Top court takes up Imran's bail pleas today

ISLAMABAD:

A Supreme Court bench has listed for hearing the appeals filed by former prime minister Imran Khan against dismissal of his bail applications in the May 9 rioting cases by the Lahore High Court (LHC).

A division bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJ) Yahya Afridi and Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui will take up the appeals—eight in total—at 9:30 am today (Tuesday).

A division bench of the LHC led by Justice Shahbaz Ali Rizvi on June 24 held that Imran was allegedly involved in the conspiracy to attack military installations in the event of his arrest—a conspiracy, which the government claims, was executed after the arrest of the PTI founder on May 9, 2023.

Imran Khan approached the apex court on July 26 against the LHC order, contending that the prosecution adopted three different stances to link him with the alleged conspiracy of May 9, 2023 rioting incidents, all of which were rejected by different courts.

Commenting on the order, the petition said the prosecution repeatedly failed to establish any credible nexus between Imran Khan and the alleged occurrence as narrated in the FIR.

According to the petition, the prosecution in its attempts to link the petitioner with the purported acts of conspiracy and abetment resorted to three conflicting versions, each differing in terms of the alleged date, time, location, and witnesses of abetment.

It said all three versions have been judicially disbelieved either by the anti-terrorism courts (ATCs) or by the LHC. It noted that during proceedings for pre-arrest bail before the ATC-III in Lahore, the prosecution belatedly claimed that a police official, Hassam Afzal, allegedly overheard a conspiracy at Zaman Park.

It claimed that this event happened two days before May 9—on May 7. The prosecution also claimed that another Inspector Asmat Kamal overheard the abetment at Chakri Rest Area five days prior to the occurrence—on May 4, 2023

"This version, however, was discredited due to the prosecution's failure to justify the delayed disclosure of such critical information and was consequently rejected by the learned Special Judge ATC-III in Lahore who confirmed the pre-arrest bails of the petitioner on March 1, 2024 in FIR No 366/23 and 1078/23."

The petition said that after the collapse of its first narrative, the prosecution advanced a second version during the hearing of criminal revision before the LHC, contending that Imran Khan allegedly incited the acts through media statements.

However, the prosecution could not produce any objectionable or incriminating material to substantiate this claim, which led the LHC to reject this version as well.

Subsequently, the state sought to rely on the statements of three new witnesses—including PTI leaders Sadaqat Abbasi and Wasiq Qayyum—as fresh evidence to support its third version of the conspiracy.

"This final attempt too was found wanting and was expressly disbelieved by the ATC-I, Rawalpindi, which discharged the co-accused Bushra Imran through a well-reasoned order dated 20.08.2024.

"The prosecution's continued failure to present coherent, consistent, and credible evidence after multiple opportunities clearly brings the case within the realm of further inquiry, making the petitioner entitled to the concession of post-arrest bail under Section 497(2) CrPC 1898," it said.

The petition stated that despite the rejection of all three prosecutorial versions by various competent forums, the LHC on June 24 declined Imran's bail while relying solely on the statements of the two police officials—Inspector Asmat Kamal and ASI Hassam Afzal.