The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday extended PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s bail in the Al-Qadir Trust case for three days and directed him to approach the relevant accountability court within the same time.
The order was issued by a two-judge bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz.
The Al-Qadir Trust case alleges that the PTI chief and his wife, Bushra Bibi, obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from a real estate firm for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government.
Imran was whisked away from the IHC premises by paramilitary forces on May 9, leading to violent protests across the country. The PTI chief had immediately approached the IHC for release but it had declared his arrest legal.
Imran had then approached the Supreme Court, which on May 11, termed his arrest “invalid and unlawful” and directed him to appear before the IHC the next day.
Subsequently, the IHC had granted Imran bail in the case for two weeks and stopped authorities from arresting the PTI chief till May 17 in any case registered in Islamabad after May 9.
On May 17, the IHC had extended its order to prevent Imran’s arrest in cases filed against him after May 9 until 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.
NAB says Bushra Bibi’s arrest not needed
Meanwhile, an Islamabad accountability court declared the bail plea of Imran’s wife Bushra Bibi in the Al Qadir Trust case as “infructuous” after NAB Investigation Officer Mian Umer Nadeem said her arrest was “not needed”.
Earlier, the court had granted Bushra Bibi bail till May 31.
During the hearing today — presided by Judge Mohammad Bashir — Bushra Bibi, her counsel Khawaja Harris and NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi appeared in court.
At the outset of the hearing, Abbasi said, “Imran issued a statement on May 13, where he used inappropriate language for NAB, the chairman and spread false propaganda against the accountability watchdog.”
He argued that the PTI chief’s statements with the ill-intention of pressuring the NAB. “We never raided or attacked Imran’s Zaman Park residence, neither did we ever issue arrest warrants for his wife,” the prosecutor general said.
He asserted that the bureau had no “personal vendetta” against anyone. Reiterating that the NAB had not issued her arrest warrants, he said, “When warrants aren’t even there, the bail plea may be dismissed.”
Here, Advocate Harris said, “If we have to listen to how virtuous the NAB is, then we will start from the Supreme Court’s order.
“Not even a single summons notice was sent by the NAB, yet the inquiry was turned into an investigation,” he added.
The counsel then told the court 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.
Here, Judge Bashir said, “Khawaja Harris sahib, anger does not look good on your face.”
Nadeem, the investigation officer, reiterated: “No arrest warrants of any kind were issued for Bushra Bibi. Bushra Bibi’s arrest is not needed.”
Subsequently, the court declared her bail plea as “infructuous” and set aside her bail plea.
