—— Bailed for two weeks in Al-Qadir Trust case
—— Court bars authorities from arresting PTI Chief in any case across the country until Monday
—— Imran also granted protective bail in three terrorism cases registered in Lahore for 10 days; bail for as many days in Zille Shah murder case
By Anzal Amin
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday barred authorities from arresting PTI Chairman Imran Khan in cases — including those that are undisclosed — registered across the country until Monday (May 15).
The court also granted protective bail to the former prime minister in three terrorism cases registered against him in Lahore and the Zille Shah murder case.
Earlier in the day, a separate IHC bench accepted Imran’s bail in the Al-Qadir Trust case for two weeks, a day after the Supreme Court termed his arrest “invalid and unlawful”. It also stopped authorities from arresting the PTI chief till May 17 in any case registered in Islamabad after May 9.
A division bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz granted Imran two-week bail in the Al-Qadir Trust case, in which he was whisked away by Rangers from IHC premises on May 9.
The PTI chief’s bail plea was conducted in courtroom No.2. The detailed order in the case is awaited. During the hearing, Justice Aurangzeb asked Imran if he condemned the violence that ensued after his arrest, to which the PTI chief’s lawyer replied in the affirmative. The judge then asked the ex-premier to submit a declaration in court stating the same.
The hearing had initially begun after a nearly two-hour delay with media reporting that officials were conducting a se-curity sweep outside the courtroom.
When the hearing resumed after 2:30pm, Imran was present in the courtroom alongside his legal team and his lawyer Khawaja Haris presented his arguments.
Haris contended before the court that the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) actions were illegal. He said that NAB could only issue an arrest warrant after an inquiry had formally been turned into an investigation.
He said that the PTI got to know through media reports that NAB had formally initiated an investigation against Imran. Haris also said that PTI chief had approached the IHC on May 9 seeking the NAB report in the inquiry but was arrested before he could enter the courtroom.
At one point during the hearing, the court asked the petitioner if he was provided a questionnaire in connection with the case, to which Haris replied in negative.
He said that Imran was issued a call-up notice which he did not appear for but instead submitted a written reply. Haris further said that the accountability watchdog was “biased” at the moment.
The court then accepted Imran’s bail plea and also instructed the NAB prosecutor general and Imran’s lawyers to come prepared at the next hearing. It also said that it would decide whether Imran’s bail should be cancelled or extended at the next hearing.
Separately, IHC’s Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri granted the PTI chief protective bail in three terrorism cases regis-tered against him in Lahore for 11 days against surety bonds worth Rs50,000 each.
During the hearing, the PTI chief told the court that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had warned of arresting him again, saying that there was no rule of law in the country currently.
Earlier, Justice Jahangiri also approved Imran’s protective bail in a case pertaining to the death of Zille Shah — a PTI worker who was killed during a party rally in Lahore earlier this year — for 11 days against surety bonds worth Rs50,000.
The written orders for all four cases were also issued the same day, which directed Imran to join the investigation in these cases.
Ahead of the hearing, the PTI said that “peaceful” supporters would gather at the Srinagar Highway in Islamabad’s G-13 to express solidarity with the ex-premier. The party also said that Imran would make a speech after his court ap-pearance.
The party announcement came despite the fact that Islamabad police late on Thursday night issued a statement saying that Section 144, which bans public gatherings, was still imposed in the capital and requested political workers not to “obstruct the legal process”.
“We request those giving calls for protests in Islamabad tomorrow not to cause disturbance of peace,” it said in a tweet, adding that legal action would be taken against those inciting the public.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Thursday that authorities would arrest Imran again. “We will ar-rest him again. If he gets bail from the high court tomorrow, we will wait for the cancellation of bail and arrest him again”.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court had directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and police to ensure “fool-proof” security for Imran until his appearance before the high court.
The court said it took up the case since the right to access to justice was denied and the sanctity and safety of the high court were violated. The court observed that the arrest was illegal and said the entire process needed to be back-tracked since a citizen enjoyed certain guarantees, particularly access to justice, on the court premises.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial said Imran being a senior leader should consider opening up a dialogue channel with his political opponents “whom he may not like but they are a reality” as this would restore confidence among the people.
Later, in a three-page order, the detailed reasons for which will come later, the apex court said the manner of execu-tion of the arrest warrant issued by the NAB chairman in the Al Qadir Trust case on the IHC premises against Imran was invalid and unlawful.
“The execution of the warrant violated Khan’s right of access to justice and the sanctity and safety of the court as he had already surrendered to the court for seeking judicial relief against the action taken by NAB in the Al Qadir Trust case.”
In this regard, the fundamental rights of the petitioner under Articles 4, 9, 10-A and 14 of the constitution have been infringed, the order said, adding the petitioner was directed to be produced before IHC on May 12 (today) at 11am for hearing of his case filed to challenge the NAB action in the Al Qadir Trust case.
The NAB authorities and the police will ensure foolproof security to the petitioner until his production in the high court today, the order said, adding that the IHC registrar would place the matter before the IHC CJ for constituting a bench for hearing the case.
