LHC gives relief to Imran Khan in terror, NAB cases

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) approved on Tuesday protective bail for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in two terror and two National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases.

A two-judge LHC bench, comprising Justice Shehbaz Rizvi and Justice Farooq Haider, granted the PTI chief protective bail in two terror cases till March 27. While a 10-day relief was granted to the PTI chief in NAB cases by a separate bench.

“100 FIR’s [first information reports] have been filed against me in one month,” the PTI chief said.

He added that while elections have been announced and he was forced to spend all of his time was being spent with the court and lawyers.

Khan left LHC after securing the bail.

Islamabad’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and the Golra Sharif police had filed cases against Khan and several other PTI leaders following clashes between PTI workers and the police outside the Federal Judicial Complex as Khan reached there to attend the hearing of the Toshakhana case last week.

Khan had filed two petitions, through his lawyer Salman Safdar, seeking protective bail in the terror cases filed against him. Justice Rizvi and Justice Haider had taken up the pleas.

During the last hearing, the court had directed Khan to ensure his appearance at 2:15pm today (Tuesday) if he wanted the court to hear his plea for protective bail in the cases. The court had also directed Khan's lawyer to verify his client's signature.

Imran Khan, 70, is facing several legal cases, including one that prompted a failed attempt to arrest him after a court issued warrants for his arrest for not appearing before it.

During today's hearing, Khan's lawyer verified that the scanned signature on the PTI chief's application was in fact his own.

The court then directed Khan to sign his application, to which he complied.

Imran Khan 'secretly' gets to court

The former prime minister reached the high court in a "decoy vehicle" to seek protective bail.

Earlier, scenes from Khan's arrival at the LHC were shared on PTI's official Twitter handle.

Before that, scores of PTI workers turned out around Zaman Park to show their support for Khan when he was leaving for LHC.

Contempt plea against Zaman Park operation

Separately, a court also heard Khan's contempt petition against the police operation at his Zaman Park residence. 

Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh took up the case.

During the hearing, Khan told the court that the police smashed the window panes of his house while his wife was alone inside.

Khan further informed the court that he was in Islamabad when the police raided his house and that he had footage of the police action.

The PTI chief said that he reached the court in a decoy vehicle today which no one knew about. "I have travelled to the court without any motorcade today," he added.

He said that barriers were placed in different places to prevent him from appearing before the court.

Justice Saleem remarked that those who were mocking the judiciary through the media would face consequences.

"I will take contempt of court action [against them] if any of the parties fail to respect the judiciary," he remarked.

The court directed the prosecutor to appear with instructions related to the Zaman Park operation.

Justice Saleem adjourned the hearing of the contempt plea till tomorrow.