Imran's bail pleas in eight May 9 cases dismissed

An Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore on Wednesday dismissed post-arrest bail pleas of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan in eight cases related to the May 9 violence.

During the hearing in the court of Judge Manzar Ali Gill, Barrister Salman Safdar, counsel for the PTI founder, said his client was in jail when the violence broke out on May 9. However, the prosecutor argued that the PTI founder had incited the party workers for a reaction prior to his arrest.

Barrister Salman argued that people gave wrong reaction over the call of the PTI founder. He said that he had defended Imran in 240 cases, carrying various charges. The ruling in 30 cases came against the government with policemen as the plaintiff. The government had used different tactics to implicate Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi in different cases. It is easy to level allegations but difficult to prove in court, he added.

The PTI founder's lawyer said he is not seeking discharge of the case as the court cannot give this relief rather he is pleading for bail as the accused has been in jail for quite some time. He added that the police had not yet submitted the challans of the cases in the court.

On the other hand, the special prosecutor argued that all cases were related to treason and attacks on sensitive installations. As many as 200 installations were attacked on the instigation of the accused. The party's media cell propagated on social media by declaring May 9 as a day of 'real Jihad.' Cashing on the situation, Indian TV channels relayed the footage of attacks on the military installations.

He said the agitators did not attack any private property but they targeted military installations.

The statue of Nishan-i-Haider recipient Colonel Sher Khan was vandalized, adding such kinds of attacks are still underway. Police and Rangers personnel were martyred while the accused claimed innocence, saying he was languishing in jail.

The court reserved its verdict after the completion of arguments from both the prosecution and defense lawyers.

Later on, the court announced the verdict and dismissed post-arrest bail pleas of Imran Khan in 8 cases of May 9 riots.