ISLAMABAD: After being granted bail on Friday, Imran Khan left for Lahore late at night without addressing the charged party workers he had earlier ordered to prepare for a protest.
The PTI chairman received a blanket respite from multiple IHC courts that prevented the government from detaining him and stayed his Toshakhana trial till the second week of June.
In a video message before leaving for Lahore, Mr. Khan called on the country “to be ready for a massive protest” and slammed the “imported government for kidnapping” him despite IHC bail in all cases.
He said, “They kidnapped me and forcibly kept me here.” I want to tell the people that it is their terrible aim, they intend to do something again, and the nation should prepare to protest”.
The ex-premier left the federal capital after nearly 11 hours at the IHC without addressing charged PTI personnel who remained on the streets.
While in court, gunshots heard.
In another video message while traveling to Lahore, Mr. Khan said that Islamabad IGP Akbar Nasir had tried everything to keep him at the IHC, but his protest threat worked and he departed.
Mr. Khan put his finger on his lips when journalists asked him questions and waved a fist in front of TV cameras to celebrate a triumph.
Mr. Khan’s over a dozen appeals approved by four IHC courts on Friday, preventing his arrest in various cases.
The blanket respite prevents the police from arresting him until May 15, and sometimes until the end of the month.
In the Al Qadir Trust case, when NAB detained him on May 9, the IHC division bench of Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz granted him pre-arrest interim release for two weeks.
The Supreme Court had referred Mr. Khan’s IHC arrest to the IHC a day earlier.
Arrest merits
Mr. Khan’s lawyer, Khawaja Haris Ahmed, told the division bench that NAB could not arrest a suspect during an investigation under the modified National Accountability Ordinance.
He claimed the arrest could only be made during the investigation, and for non-cooperation by a suspect. On April 27, the inquiry raised to investigation, and Mr. Khan learned this through a publication on April 30.
He claimed NAB had sent only one call-up notice to the former premier, who responded.
Advocate Ahmed claimed the petitioner believed the case closed.
Bail denial
Barrister Jahangir Khan Jadoon, Advocate General, Islamabad, rejected the bail motion, stating that the court could not hear it under Article 199 since the army is posted in the capital under Article 245. He suggested Mr Khan seek bail from the accountability court.
“Mr Advocate General, you should advise your government to close down the courts,” Justice Aurangzeb joked. He questioned if Pakistan had martial law.
NAB’s deputy prosecutor general Sardar Muzaffar Khan Abbasi argued that other accused in the same case, including property tycoon Malik Riaz, Zulfi Bukhari, Mian Mohammad Soomro, and some members of Mr Khan’s cabinet, had joined the investigation, but neither Mr Khan nor his former aide Shahzad Akbar had.
Justice Aurangzeb remarked that NAB’s call up notices violated superior court law. Mr Khan received two-week interim bail.
In another case, the judge requested FIRs and barred police from arresting Mr. Khan.
Toshakhana reference
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq postponed the Toshakhana trial until June 8. He heard three identical petitions contesting Mr. Khan’s indictment and one for a judge transfer.
Another division bench of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir awarded Mr. Khan transitory bail in six Punjab police station FIRs.
The division bench further barred the police from arresting Mr. Khan under Maintenance of Public Order or any other law and ordered the PTI head to join the probe and petition the Lahore High Court.
The former prime minister disputed the police protection in his appeal, claiming that the police had detained him in the police guest house and constrained his liberty in the name of protection.
Justice Aurangzeb asked Mr. Khan to condemn recent violence in the country before giving relief.
He instructed him to punish party members who damaged public and private property.
In a statement, PTI information secretary Farrukh Habib claimed that the “fascist government” was delaying Mr. Khan’s departure in the name of security clearance.
