ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani was granted protective bail by Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi on Wednesday in a ninth case registered against him by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) with regards to a multi-billion rupee scam involving the Trade and Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP).

The petition for bail in the ninth case was filed by Gilani's counsel yesterday, but was registered too late in the day for any conclusion to be reached on the matter.

Speaking to the press, Gilani said he suspected there were five or six more cases against him in the pipeline. He alleged that the FIA had visited his Multan residence and harassed his employees. He called the incident "discrimination" and "character assassination of a political party".

PPP's former governor Punjab Sardar Latif Khosa addressing mediapersons on Wednesday. — DawnNews screengrab

PPP Secretary General Sardar Latif Khosa said the former prime minister's lawyer Farooq H. Naek tried to get protective bail for Gilani so he wasn't arrested before he could be presented in court.

He added that there shouldn't be any discrimination against the PPP stalwart, saying that the first names on a list presented by the National Accountability Bureau in court were those of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

Khosa alleged that Nawaz Sharif had allotted 2,600 two-kanal plots in one day in Lahore's Johar Town area.

Counsel for the accused Farooq H. Naek said the cases against the former prime minister alleged that Gilani's deputy secretary had taken a Rs50 lakh bribe, and a confession was forcefully extracted from him under torture. "You cannot run the government and FIA this way," he said, adding, "Don't register false cases... and take unfair advantage of your position". He also appealed to the heads of the FIA to "stop registering false cases".

The FIA had registered 21 First Information Reports (FIRs) in the case. Gilani, according to one of his lawyers Raja Aleem Abbasi, has obtained bail in 12 of the cases.

On Thursday, a single-member bench, comprising Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi, of the IHC granted protective bail to Gilani in eight other cases. However, during the hearing of his petition, Farooq Naek, senior counsel for the former prime minister, informed the court that there was another FIR pending against his client. He requested the court to grant protective bail to Gilani in that FIR as well.

Justice Qureshi, however, said the accused needed to file a separate petition seeking protective bail in the remaining FIR. Subsequently, Gilani through his counsel filed another petition which was taken up by the court today.

A federal anti-corruption court last week issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of Yousuf Raza Gilani, Makhdoom Amin Fahim and others.

During the course of hearing, advocate Naek told the court that Gilani was innocent as his name was not mentioned in the initial FIRs but was included in the final challan.

He said the former prime minister wanted to appear before the federal court in Karachi but he apprehended that the FIA may pressure him to make a statement against his own party colleagues.

Justice Qureshi directed Mr Gilani to submit Rs100,000 surety bonds in each case. Since there were eight FIRs, the former prime minister has to furnish Rs800,000 bonds.

The judge made it clear that the protective bail would expire after one week in case Gilani would not appear before the trial court.

Also read: Arrest warrants issued for senior PPP leaders Gilani, Amin Fahim