IHC extends orders preventing Imran's arrest till May 31

Court grants govt's request seeking time to provide details of cases registered against PTI chief

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday extended its orders stopping the authorities from arresting PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan in any case, including undisclosed ones, filed against him anywhere in the country till May 31.

The IHC was hearing Imran's plea seeking relief from the court over suspicions that government may attempt to arrest him again.

On Tuesday last week, dozens of troops of paramilitary Rangers broke into an office of the IHC and whisked Imran away in an armoured vehicle in a whirlwind raid while executing the arrest warrant issued against the former premier by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

Later, the Supreme Court termed his arrest as “invalid and unlawful” and referred the matter back to the IHC which had earlier accepted the arrest as "legal".

Read Verdict on PTI’s plea in prohibited funding on May 23

Subsequently, IHC CJ Aamer Farooq had formed a two-judge bench -- comprising Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz -- to hear Imran’s bail plea in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

The bench had then gone on to grant protective bail to Imran in three terrorism cases filed against him in Lahore and the murder case of PTI activist Zillay Shah alias Ali Bilal.

Additionally, the court had prevented authorities from arresting the PTI chief until May 15 in all cases known or otherwise.

As the bench resumed hearing the case today, the government sought time to provide details of the cases registered against Imran.

Granting the request, the court adjourned proceedings until May 31.