Key highlights

• ATC rejects interim bail plea of six PTI leaders
• ATC grants bail to Khan till May 19 in two cases
• Court reserves verdict on Khan’s plea seeking details of cases registered after May 9

An anti-terrorism court in Lahore granted interim bail to PTI chief Imran Khan till May 19 in cases pertaining to the death of Zille Shah and vandalism during violent protests.

ATC judge Ejaz Ahmed Buttar heard the case. The court had reserved the verdict after hearing the arguments. Both cases were registered at the Race Course Police Station.

The former prime minister was due in Lahore’s anti-terrorism court on Tuesday (today). He was summoned to appear in court at 11am. But he did not show up.

Khan’s lawyer told the court that his client could not appear in court due to an external situation. He added that the former premier could not appear due to PDM’s protest.

He added that Khan would appear on the next date. To this, the court told the lawyer to present some arguments and what are the hurdles in his court appearance.

The lawyer replied that the law and order situation could get disturbed as a large number of police and PDM supporters were outside Khan’s Zaman Park residence. He contended that the PTI chief can appear in court via video link.

Earlier, the ATC rejected the interim bail of six PTI leaders in cases pertaining to the death of Zille Shah and vandalism after they failed to appear in court. They are Fawad Chaudhry, Hammad Azhar, Farrukh Habib, Ijaz Chaudhry, Mian Mehmoodur Rashid, and Omar Ayub.

A heavy contingent of police has been deployed outside the court.

There were reports of some movement at Zaman Park and there was a possibility that he arrives at the court in a while. Khan’s lawyers were present.

Aaj News correspondent Ateeq Malik reported that elite force vehicles and an ambulance were sent to Zaman Park. Supporters of PTI and Khan’s security squad were present at the house.

Meanwhile, PTI’s Yasmin Rashid would also appear in court in a case related to the Jinnah House attack. Fawad Chaudhry, Ijaz Chaudhry, Farrukh Habib, and Omar Ayub would not appear in court.

Khan was arrested on graft charges on Tuesday, prompting supporters to rampage through cities across the country before the Supreme Court declared his detention illegal three days later.

Khan, 70, said on Twitter he expected to be arrested again.

“Using (the) pretext of violence while I was inside the jail, they have assumed the role of judge, jury and executioner,” he wrote of the current government on Twitter.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, who has vowed Khan will be rearrested, told reporters on Sunday the “terrorism and mobbing was all preplanned and this was done by Khan”.

Cases after May 9: Court reserves decision on Khan’s plea

The Lahore High Court has reserved its decision on PTI chief Imran Khan’s petition seeking details of cases registered on and after May 9—the day when he was arrested by paramilitary forces from Islamabad.

Justice Safdar Saleem Shahid heard Khan’s petition. He sought details of “undisclosed cases of FIRs” and protective bails in them.

At the hearing of the case, Khan’s lawyer Salman Safdar said that his client was not aware of the situation external situation. “He [Khan] says that he was locked in a room,” the counsel said, adding that he also sought protective bail for Khan in these cases.

“We are here for the protection of basic rights,” the lawyer said and expressed his intention that the court stops the arrest. He urged that do not allow any arrest until they were aware of the cases.

He added that there were several cases registered against his client. At least five cases would be heard against Khan on Tuesday (today) and seven on Wednesday.

Safdar contended that there were many cases in which his client was not informed and they were not “disclosed”. He feared that Khan could be arrested at any time.

He argued that the Islamabad High Court has granted his client bail and advised them to approach the LHC.

But the government counsel contended that it cannot happen that the accused goes for one bail and gets relief in all cases. He said that whatever happened in the IHC and SC was “unprecedented”. He urged the court to reject Khan’s petition.

Later, the court reserved its verdict.

Court grants bail to Khan’s wife in graft case till May 23: lawyer

The Lahore High Court granted on Monday bail until May 23 to former PM Khan’s wife in a graft case, a lawyer in their legal team said.

Khan was arrested by the country’s anti-graft agency last week in the same case.

His wife, Bushra Bibi, was co-accused along with Khan in the case, which pertained to the alleged receiving of financial help from a land developer in the setting-up of Al Qadir University of which the former premier and his spouse are trustees.

“We had requested for a protective bail for Bushra Bibi in Al Qadir Trust Case and a two-judge bench of LHC has granted the bail till May 23,” Bibi’s lawyer, Intizar Hussain Panjutha, told Reuters.

Both the former PM and his wife Bushra Bibi appeared before the court on Monday where their petition was filed through their counsel Khawaja Haris and Intizar Hussain Panjutha.

The chairman and the director general of the National Accountability Bureau were made parties in the petition. A two-member bench headed by Justice Shehbaz Rizvi heard the plea of Bushra Bibi in the same case. The court asked where the petitioners were present. On this, Bushra’s lawyer apologised and said she will appear in a while.

Justice Rizvi remarked that it was not appropriate for the courts to wait.

Later, both the PTI chairman along with his wife arrived at the court. Meanwhile, the court again asked where the petitioners were. Advocate Khawaja Haris told the court that she had arrived at the high court.

Bushra argued that NAB sent the summon notice without any legal justification. She said that she wanted to appear in the trial court to clarify her position, but there was a possibility of arrest by NAB. The court should grant protective bail in the case, her counsel plead.

Later, the court barred NAB from arresting Bushra Bibi till May 23 in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

The case is one of more than 100 registered against the embattled Khan since he was ousted from power last year in a parliamentary vote having served less than four of his five-year term.

He has since campaigned across the country for fresh elections and blames the military for cracking down on him and his party - a charge the military denies. He was shot and wounded in an attack while campaigning last year.

Visuals shared by his party showed Khan’s security detail surrounding the vehicle carrying Bibi - who wears the traditional Islamic face veil - and using a large white cloth curtain to cover her as she alighted.

Other cases

The Lahore High Court will hear Khan’s bail plea in multiple cases on Tuesday. The cases were registered after May 9 events which brought the country to the brink.

On the other hand, a petition was filed to provide details of the cases registered against Khan.

Khan made the IGP of Punjab and the advocate general for Punjab parties in the case and asked the court to grant exemption from arrest in cases registered after May 9.

The PTI chief’s lawyer requested the court to fix the petition for hearing on Monday, which the court rejected. Justice Safdar Saleem Shahid would hear Khan’s petition Tuesday (today).

‘Anger and anguish’

Parties that ousted Khan in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 planned protests on Monday against the Supreme Court’s decision to grant Khan’s release.

“People want to come in very large numbers because of a deep sense of anger and anguish,” Sanaullah said Sunday.

There was a heavy security presence in the capital on Monday, and Islamabad police said some protestors had entered the so-called red zone housing the Supreme Court.

Khan has become snarled in dozens of legal cases since he was ousted.

Analysts say legal hurdles are often used to discourage dissent in Pakistan and Khan dismisses the cases as politically motivated ahead of elections due no later than October.

Khan has waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against Pakistan’s army.

When Khan surged into office in 2018, most understood it was with the backing of the generals. Analysts likewise said when he left power it was because he had fallen out of favour with the top brass.

In opposition Khan has made explosive claims about the military’s involvement in politics, including that they plotted a November assassination attempt in which he was shot in the leg while he campaigned for fresh polls.

His arrest last Tuesday came just hours after he repeated the allegations at a rally.

(With input from AFP and Reuters)