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Court granted 7-day and 10-day bail to PTI leaders in Islamabad and Lahore cases
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday granted protective bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan in nine cases, including eight terrorism and one civil case, after the hearing of the former prime minister's bail plea ended. moved against.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh and Justice Farooq Haider granted protective bail to Khan in a total of eight terrorism cases. In five cases in Islamabad, the court granted the PTI chief bail till March 24 and in three cases in Lahore, Khan got bail for 10 days (till March 27).
Justice Sheikh also heard the PTI chief's bail plea against the civil case which was adjourned till March 27.
The PTI chief has approached the LHC for protective guarantees nine times. Five of these incidents were reported in Islamabad and four in Lahore.
The court also barred authorities from taking further action against Khan until Tuesday (March 21) and ordered lawyers representing the Punjab government to hand over details of all cases against the former prime minister.
The Supreme Court also allowed the police to enter Zaman Park, Khan's residence in Lahore, to investigate the incident that led to clashes on March 14 and 15 that left several people injured.
The court also rejected PTI senior vice-president Fawad Chaudhry's plea against the Taman Zaman operation and ordered the party to cooperate with the authorities.
Hundreds of PTI supporters accompanied Imran Khan to the high court, and authorities allowed his bulletproof vehicle to enter the court building.
At Khan's Zaman Park residence, which became a battleground on Tuesday, workers guarded the party chief's house to prevent his arrest. Later, the situation calmed down after the Islamabad High Court banned the police from making arrests in the case of Toshakhan.
The case against Khan began shortly after he was ousted as prime minister in parliamentary elections early last year. Since then, he has demanded early elections and organized protests across the country, and was shot dead at a rally in Wazirabad on November 3.
Interim Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif rejected Khan's demands, saying elections would be held later this year as planned.
The Supreme Court also allowed the police to enter Zaman Park, Khan's residence in Lahore, to investigate the incident that led to clashes on March 14 and 15 that left several people injured.
The court also rejected PTI senior vice-president Fawad Chaudhry's plea against the Taman Zaman operation and ordered the party to cooperate with the authorities.
Hundreds of PTI supporters accompanied Imran Khan to the high court, and authorities allowed his bulletproof vehicle to enter the court building.
At Khan's Zaman Park residence, which became a battleground on Tuesday, workers guarded the party chief's house to prevent his arrest. Later, the situation calmed down after the Islamabad High Court banned the police from making arrests in the case of Toshakhan.
The case against Khan began shortly after he was ousted as prime minister in parliamentary elections early last year. Since then, he has demanded early elections and organized protests across the country, and was shot dead at a rally in Wazirabad on November 3.
Interim Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif rejected Khan's demands, saying elections would be held later this year as planned.
A terrorist incident
Khan's lawyer told the court that his client did not have all the details of the case. In response, Justice Sheikh said the LHC cannot grant blank bail to the PTI chief and only hear the case against him.
Khan joined in and said that many cases were filed against him. He also said there was an "unheard of" attack on his house.
Justice Saleem Khan said that he should work with the system and asked the PTI chief to look into his actions.
Khan said he wanted the case against him in the lower court to be transferred to another court as it was a "death trap". He said he asked the authorities to provide adequate protection.
Hakim Saleem said, "Han sahab, the case is wrong."
The PTI chief then said that "94 cases" have been filed against him and if six more cases are filed, it will go up to 100. "This is going to be a non-cricket century."
The court then granted bail to Khan in the case filed on March 24 in Islamabad and bail till March 27 in the case filed in Lahore.
Jill Shah's murder case
In this meeting, Khan's lawyer Azhar Siddiq pointed out that Tosha Khan's claim in the case is invalid and asked the LHC to grant Khan advance bail to appear in the relevant courts.
Lawyers said Khan needed a 10-day bail in the Zaila Shah murder case registered at Lahore's Sarwar Road police station.
As a result, the court issued a bail order until March 27.
Since then, the lawyers have asked the court not to take any action against the head of Tehreek-e-Insaf until the details of the case against him are obtained.
A federal attorney told the court he did not have details of complaints against Khan in other states.
A lawyer then sought time from the Punjab government to provide complete records of the complaint filed against Khan.
After the argument, the Supreme Court ordered the registration of the registered cases and restrained the authorities from starting disciplinary proceedings against Khan until next Tuesday.
Police investigation
The Punjab Police also filed a plea in the High Court to allow law enforcers to investigate the events that took place on March 14 and 15 - when the authorities and the PTI came face to face.
The PTI chief's lawyer told the court hearing that police can come to investigate but SSP Zaman Park should not visit the place with huge force.
Justice Sheikh asked the lawyer if he could supervise the investigation. After that, Khan's lawyer said that the investigator can come to Zaman Park and investigate.
The High Court then permitted the investigating officer to visit Zaman Park and conduct an investigation in accordance with law.
Operation of Zaman Park
While hearing the case, Justice Sheikh said that the court had issued the summons in accordance with the law and there was an impression that the state order was being ignored.
"Such problems should not happen again," the judge said.
Responding to the judge, Khan said his party's name contained "insaf (justice)", adding that he knew about March 18 but the police had come before that date.
"Their force came in such huge numbers; the attack that took place in my house has no precedence," the former prime minister said, adding that he was sure the police had not come to take him to Islamabad but to Balochistan.
Khan's lawyer asked the judge about the status of the case filed against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah. To this, Justice Sheikh said that he would let him know when the case came before him.
The judge then wrapped up Fawad Chaudhry's plea against the Zaman Park police operation and told PTI to cooperate with the authorities.
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