IHC extends Imran's bail in Al-Qadir Trust case
Pakistan
The order was issued by a division bench comprising Justice Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Imtiaz
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday extended PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s interim bail in the Al-Qadir Trust case for three days and directed him to approach the relevant accountability court within three days.
The order was issued by a division bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz.
Imran's lawyer Khawaja Haris submitted before the court that his client has been appearing in different courts of Islamabad.
Justice Aurangzeb asked him whether his client appeared before the NAB. Advocate Haris replied in affirmative.
چئیرمین تحریک انصاف عمران خان اسلام آباد ہائی کورٹ میں
— PTI (@PTIofficial) May 31, 2023
pic.twitter.com/68TzZzL9DQ
Earlier, a video shared on PTI’s official Twitter account showed Imran entering the IHC as his security personnel held up bulletproof shields.
The case
Imran and his wife Bushra Bibi have allegedly received Rs5 billion as bribe and a piece of land from a real estate owner for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government.
The PTI chief was whisked away from the IHC premises by paramilitary forces on May 9. He approached the IHC for release but the court declared his arrest legal.
Imran approached the Supreme Court which termed his arrest invalid and unlawful on May 11 and directed him to appear before the IHC the next day.
The IHC granted Imran bail for two weeks and stopped authorities from arresting him till May 17 in any case registered in Islamabad after May 9. And on May 17, the court extended his bail till May 31.
The IHC will also hear two other petitions concerning Imran today, one of which is a bail plea regarding the violation of Section 144.
The other is a writ petition seeking a bar on Islamabad police from arresting Imran in any case registered after May 9. These two petitions will be heard after the bail plea in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
‘Bushra Bibi’s arrest not needed’
Meanwhile, an Islamabad accountability court declared the bail plea of Imran’s wife Bushra Bibi in the case as “infructuous” after NAB Investigation Officer Mian Umer Nadeem said her arrest was “not needed”.
Bushra Bibi appeared before judge Muhammad Bashir along with her counsel Khawaja Haris, while Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi represented NAB.
Abbasi alleged that Imran on May 13 used inappropriate language for NAB and its chairman and indulged in vilification campaign against it.
He claimed that NAB never raided or attacked Imran’s Zaman Park residence, or issued arrest warrants for his wife.
He asserted that the NAB had not issued arrest warrants for Bushra Bibi.
Advocate Harris argued that not even a single summon was sent by the NAB, yet the inquiry was turned into an investigation.
He submitted that Bushra Bibi had gone to the NAB office with Imran on the court’s order but the bureau had instead only called Imran inside and told Bushra Bibi that it was “not her time” for investigation.
“Bushra Bibi kept waiting in the car for Imran for six hours,” Harris said.
Nadeem, the investigation officer, said no arrest warrants of any kind were issued for Bushra Bibi. Her arrest is not needed, he added.
On it, the court declared her bail plea as “infructuous” and set aside her bail plea.
