Court defers hearing on Imran’s bail plea

LHC to take up petitions challenging dismissal of PTI chief’s post arrest bail pleas tomorrow

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD:

In Islamabad, a special court has postponed the hearing of post-arrest bail applications submitted by PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the diplomatic cipher case till the Islamabad High Court (IHC) decides a plea challenging the court's jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court (LHC) is scheduled to address petitions filed by Imran Khan against the rejection of his pre-arrest bail applications in seven different cases.

Imran, who served as the country's prime minister until April last year, currently faces around 180 cases. These cases primarily stem from incidents that occurred following the sacking of the Lahore corps commander's house on May 9.

In these petitions, presented by Barrister Salman Safdar, Imran has also named the Attock jail superintendent as a respondent.

He argues that his bail applications were dismissed due to his non-appearance in court after being convicted in the Toshakhana case on August 5. Imran seeks a fair consideration of his bail applications on their merits.

During an in-camera hearing, Judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain of the Islamabad ATC-1, who was recently appointed as a judge of a special court handling cases under the Official Secrets Act, 1923, was informed by the prosecution that Imran Khan had challenged both the special court's jurisdiction and his jail trial in the IHC.

The court advised PTI lawyers to await the IHC's decision and consider bail matters thereafter. It further recommended withdrawing the bail applications and re-filing them after the IHC's ruling. A hearing on both defendants' bail requests is scheduled for Monday.

Additionally, an ATC in Lahore has directed authorities to include Imran Khan's sisters, Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan, in an investigation into four different cases filed against them following incidents on May 9.

Aleema and Uzma appeared in the ATC of Judge Abher Gul after their interim bail expired. They had been requesting inclusion in the investigation for three months, and the judge ordered the investigating officers to do so promptly, expressing a desire to conclude the case and receive the investigation report.