ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court No. 1 Wednesday granted the PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan interim bail in the 190 million pounds Al-Qadir Trust case.
Imran appeared before the accountability court on the instructions of Islamabad High Court. Judge Muhammad Bashir directed the PTI chief to submit surety bonds of Rs500,000.
The hearing was adjourned till June 19 at the request of the NAB prosecutor, who said June 17 fell on Saturday, so some other day should be fixed.
On the other hand, the accountability court disposed of the bail plea of Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi as ineffective and allowed her to leave.
The NAB deputy prosecutor said Bushra Bibi should cooperate with the anti-graft body whenever summoned for investigation. “We respect and honour women,” he said, adding that no notice had yet been issued to Bushra Bibi.
Meanwhile, the investigation officer informed the court that no warrant for arrest had been issued for Bushra Bibi, as her ‘arrest was not needed’.
At this, the court disposed of her bail plea as ineffective and allowed her to leave.
“In view of the investigation officer’s statement, the counsel for the petitioner does not press the petition at hand. Hence, the petition filed for pre-arrest bail u/s 9(b) of the NAO, 1999 read with Section 498 CRPC is hereby disposed of accordingly. File be consigned to record room after its completion,” said the written order issued by the court. Earlier in the day, Imran Khan left his Zaman Park to appear before the National Accountability Bureau’s Rawalpindi office and Islamabad High Court in various cases. He was accompanied by a team of lawyers.
Former PTI leader Ali Zaidi and MQM leaders Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and Farogh Naseem also appeared before the NAB combined investigation team and recorded their statements in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Wednesday extended protective bails of deposed prime minister and PTI’s Chairman Imran Khan in eight cases including Al-Qadir Trust and instructed him to approach the relevant courts for further relief.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Raffat Imtiaz heard the bail petitions of PTI’s Chairman Imran Khan who appeared before the bench amid foolproof security arrangements. Imran’s lawyer Khawaja Harris prayed to the court to grant protective bail to his client till June 8, in the Al-Qadir Trust case. Which, the NAB prosecutor said that the PTI’s chief could move the bail petition to accountability court as he had been there on this day earlier. The prosecutor, however, prayed the court to grant two or three days for PTI’s chairman to get bail from the relevant court.
The bench extended the protective bail of PTI’s chief for three days and asked him to approach the accountability court within the said time period. Meanwhile, the same bench also extended the protective bail of Imran Khan for ten days in six cases, which were registered after May 9, by various police stations. The court also directed him to approach the trial courts during the said time period. The Islamabad police produced its report regarding the FIRs against the former prime minister. It said that a total of six cases were registered against Imran Khan after May 9, in police stations of the federal capital.
Similarly, the two-member bench also extended interim bail of Imran Khan for ten days in the Section-144 case registered by Margala Police Station and instructed him to join the investigation within said time period. Imran Khan’s lawyer adopted the stance that they did not want to go F-8 Kutcheri due to security issues and prayed the IHC’s bench to hear the bails cases itself. Additional Attorney General informed the court that the lower courts would be shifted to the new complex till June 6. The court instructed that the cases would be heard in judicial complex Islamabad if the F-8 Kutcheri was not shifted to the new building. Earlier, the registrar office IHC rejected the request of PTI’s lawyers seeking permission for entry of three vehicles of Imran Khan in premises of IHC.
The lawyers stated that the vehicles of Imran should be allowed to enter in premises due to security issues. Imran arrived from Lahore to Islamabad along with his wife Bushra Bibi to appear before the IHC.