Court ReporterDaily Dawn, Dawn TV Report
Islamabad: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has granted bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan in eight cases of May 9.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi heard the case on Thursday.
Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, while delivering an oral verdict, granted bail to the former Prime Minister in eight cases and ordered his release.
It should be noted that despite getting bail in these eight cases, Imran Khan will not be able to be released from jail because he has been sentenced to fourteen years in prison for one hundred and ninety million pounds.
His arrest has been made public in Toshakhana II. Imran Khan’s lawyers have challenged the decision in the one hundred and ninety million pounds case in the Islamabad High Court.
During the hearing, Special Prosecutor Zulfiqar Naqvi told the court that he could not appear yesterday due to ill health, to which the Chief Justice said, “Nothing.”
Special Prosecutor Zulfiqar Naqvi, while giving arguments during the hearing, said that the orders for the May 9 incidents were given by Imran Khan.
He said that these eight cases are under trial in the anti-terrorism courts, and various courts have rejected their bail applications for two years.
The Chief Justice said that the court will not go to trial in the case and will only look at the matter to the extent of bail.
He asked the prosecutor what evidence he had against Imran Khan in the case, to which the court was told that the statements of three witnesses in this case were also on record.
The court inquired that earlier, former Senator Ijaz Chaudhry was also granted bail in the May 9 case and now the prosecution should tell how this case is different from Ijaz Chaudhry’s case?
The prosecution could not give a satisfactory answer to the court in this matter.
The prosecutor said that Imran Khan did not even take a polygraph test, so he is not eligible for bail.
Justice Azhar Hassan Rizvi, present in the bench, asked the prosecution whether Ijaz Chaudhry was present at the scene of the May 9 incidents, to which the prosecutor replied that he could not say anything about it.
Addressing the prosecutor, the court said that he did not have even basic information.
The court ordered Imran Khan’s lawyer Salman Safdar to present arguments and while presenting arguments, he said that Imran Khan was not nominated in five of these eight cases.
He said that the prosecution has submitted challans in the relevant court in this regard.
He said that he had also taken the same stand in the bail applications in the Lahore High Court, but his stand was not accepted.
Imran Khan’s lawyer said that the accused has the right to bail and his client was deprived of this right for two years. After hearing brief arguments, the court granted Imran Khan’s bail applications in eight cases. It may be recalled that earlier, the bench hearing Imran Khan’s bail applications had also changed. Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi was included in the three-member bench in place of Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb.
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