- Bail granted till Mar 24 and 27 respectively in cases registered by Islamabad, Lahore police
- They want to take me to Balochistan to treat me like Gill and Swati, says Imran
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday granted protective bail to former prime minister Imran Khan in nine cases, while also allowing the police to investigate the FIRs against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and others related to clashes between PTI workers and police at Zaman Park.
Meanwhile, Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh has directed the federation and all provinces to provide complete details of the FIRs and restrained concerned quarters from taking any coercive measures against Imran Khan until Monday.
ان مشکل حالات میں قوم کی واحد اُمید عمران خان
اس قوم کی خاطر اب کپتان کو لانا ہے !! #چلو_چلو_عمران_کے_ساتھ pic.twitter.com/sjHlxw3OUI— PTI (@PTIofficial) March 17, 2023
The LHC’s division bench, headed by Justice Tariq, heard the protective bail pleas on eight FIRs registered under anti-terrorism charges. The bench granted Imran protective bails in three FIRs registered in Lahore by March 27 and in five lodged in Islamabad by March 24.
The PTI chairman, after leaving his Zaman Park residence in a convoy, had arrived at the LHC for hearing on multiple petitions to seek protective bail in order to get access to relevant courts and details of FIRs registered against him.
پاکستانی عوام اپنے لیڈر عمران خان کی قیادت تلے متحد ہو چکی ہے، قوم انقلاب کی جانب بڑھ رہی ہے۔ انشاء اللہ پاکستان جلد اپنی حقیقی آزادی کے حصول میں کامیاب ہو گا۔
VC: @BeenishYousaf1 pic.twitter.com/UdfDiAacJh— PTI (@PTIofficial) March 17, 2023
The court granted protective bail to the PTI chairman in five cases registered by Islamabad police and three cases registered by Lahore police till March 24 and March 27 respectively.
The PTI Chairman Imran Khan along with his counsel appeared before the court at 5.30pm, on being summoned.
Imran’s counsel argued before the bench that Islamabad and Lahore police had registered eight different cases against his client under the terrorism charges. He further submitted that details of some cases were not available.
روز ایک نئے طریقے سے آزمایا جاتا ہوں
روز ایک تازہ عزم لے کے پھر ابھرتا ہوں#چلو_چلو_عمران_کے_ساتھ#چلو_چلو_اسلام_آباد_چلو pic.twitter.com/3M7ij18agC— Zeeshan Imran (@zeeshanimranpti) March 17, 2023
However, the bench observed that it would consider only those cases wherein the petitions had been filed, adding “We could not grant blanket bail”.
Subsequently, the bench granted protective bail to the PTI chairman in eight cases registered by Islamabad and Lahore Police.
Earlier, Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh had summoned Imran Khan to appear before the court in connection with his protective bail at 5.30pm.
▪️Survived an assassination attempt
▪️ Nearing a century of bogus political cases against him.
▪️His house attacked and tear gas fired inside his house.
▪️His party facing the worst kind of fascism.
▪️And he's still standing firm & smiling.
The power of Imaan and Awaam gives… https://t.co/nF1jLHQhaC pic.twitter.com/gc1lQEQJN8— Salman Raza (@SalmanView) March 17, 2023
Imran Khan had filed petitions for protective bail in two cases registered at Ramna Police Station, Islamabad, two cases registered at Khana Police Station, Islamabad, one case registered at Bhara Kahu Police Station, Islamabad, and three cases registered at Race Course Police Station Lahore.
Meanwhile, the single bench comprising Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh also granted protective bail till March 27 to the PTI chairman in a case registered by Sarwar Road Police against the PTI leadership over hiding facts in the PTI worker (Zille Shah) death case.
پاکستانی عوام اپنے لیڈر عمران خان کی قیادت تلے متحد ہو چکی ہے، قوم انقلاب کی جانب بڑھ رہی ہے۔ انشاء اللہ پاکستان جلد اپنی حقیقی آزادی کے حصول میں کامیاب ہو گا۔
VC: @BeenishYousaf1 pic.twitter.com/UdfDiAacJh— PTI (@PTIofficial) March 17, 2023
Imran’s counsel argued before the court that the petition for bail in Toshakhana case had become ineffective. He submitted that Sarwar Road Police had registered a case against his client and others. He submitted that his client wanted to appear before the court concerned and pleaded with the court for grant of protective bail in this regard.
Moreover, Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh restrained authorities from taking coercive measures against the PTI chairman till Tuesday, March 21 and sought details of cases registered against him across Punjab.
یہ خواجہ وینٹیلیٹر کے نام!
خواجہ وینٹیلیٹر گن سکتے ہو تو گن لو تم کہتے تھے لوگ نہیں نکلے-😂 pic.twitter.com/76TDubjUjh— Usman Dar (@UdarOfficial) March 17, 2023
The court passed the orders while hearing a petition filed by Imran Khan for details of the cases registered against him and other PTI leaders across Pakistan.
Imran’s counsel requested the court to stop respondents from taking any coercive measure against his client till the provision of details of cases registered against him.
A provincial law officer sought time for provision of details of cases, during the proceedings.
They want to treat me like Gill and Swati: Imran
اللہ کی امان ❤❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/BARdsOCqgF
— engineer abbasPTI (@engineerabbas11) March 17, 2023
Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Imran Khan claimed that the government wants to take him to Balochistan so that they can treat him in a similar way they treated PTI leaders Shahbaz Gill and Azam Swati.
Imran in the past has several times accused the incumbent government of resorting to extreme violence against the two party leaders in custody. Both were arrested on sedition charges in different cases.
“They wanted to pick me up and take me straight to Balochistan… they want to treat me like Shahbaz Gil and Azam Swati, which is transparent to everyone,” he said during his hearing today in Lahore High Court (LHC) according to Express News.
Imran said that he was ready to appear in court on Saturday but the government resorted to violence and attacked his Zaman Park residence in Lahore.
“There has been an assassination attempt on me, therefore, my only request to the court is to transfer the Islamabad court case to some other court,” he said.
He assured the court that he believed in the rule of law and has never broken any law in his life. “Even the interior minister has expressed concerns over threats to my life.”
“The place where the [Islamabad] court is located is not secured … it is located in a narrow street where judges too have been attacked in the past,” he maintained.
He lashed out at the government for resorting to force at his residence. “What happened at my house has never happened before and I cannot even describe it in words. Things were out of my hands. They came with an entire army as if they wanted to conquer Kashmir.”
