ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan was on Thursday granted pre-arrest interim bail in the terrorism and violation of Section 144 cases registered against him.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief was booked in a terrorism case for his controversial remarks about a female judge at a party rally in the capital on Aug 20, while a separate first information report (FIR) was registered against him on charges of violating Section 144 (ban on public gatherings exceeding four persons) by holding the large rally.

The Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) granted pre-arrest interim bail to Mr Khan till Sept 1 in the case of intimidating a woman additional district and sessions judge (AD&SJ) and senior police authorities.

ATC Judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan took up the petition seeking pre-arrest bail for Mr Khan.

Says Pakistan has become global ‘laughing stock’ after reports of cases against him received extensive coverage in world media

Earlier this week, Islamabad High Court’s Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had granted him three-day protective bail, which expired on Thursday.

Mr Khan appeared in the ATC along with his legal team and former ministers Pervaiz Khattak, Asad Umar, local leaders Ali Nawaz Awan, Amir Kayani, Raja Khurram Nawaz and Senator Faisal Javed.

Besides, PTI activists were also present in and outside the Federal Judicial Complex that housed the ATC. Some of them tried to enter the courtroom, however, police stopped them and locked the doors.

During the hearing, Mr Khan rose to his seat to mark his attendance. His counsel Babar Awan argued that the complainant in this case was a magistrate, Ali Javed, while the aggrieved AD&SJ, the Islamabad inspector general of police (IGP) and deputy inspector general (DIG) did not lodge the FIR.

He presented a watered-down version of the otherwise ‘threatening’ speech of Mr Khan and said the former premier had warned the judge of legal action, adding he reprimanded the IGP and DIG for being a part of the government and responsible for the well-being of an under-custody suspect.

The judge, after initial hearings, granted interim bail to Mr Khan against a surety bond of Rs100,000 till Sept 1.

Advocate Awan requested the court to extend the interim bail for a longer period since Mr Khan was contesting by-elections on nine seats. The judge however declined the request and issued a notice to the police, and adjourned further hearing till the said date.

Moreover, AD&SJ Tahir Abbas Sipra granted an interim bail to Mr Khan in another case registered against him for taking out a rally in violation of Section 144 of the CrPC on Aug 20.

His counsel argued that the FIR contained bailable sections of the PPC and requested the court to accept the petition.

The judge granted interim bail to Mr Khan till Sept 7, and summoned the police with the relevant recordand adjourned further hearing till then.

‘Laughing stock’

After attending the proceedings at the Federal Judicial Complex, Imran Khan came down hard on the government for lodging a terrorism case against him, and said Pakistan had become a “laughing stock” in the world because news reports of the cases against him had received extensive coverage in the international media.

He alleged that his chief of staff, Shahbaz Gill, had been tortured and sexually abused, and “when I said I will take legal action against the police officials involved as well as the magistrate who sent Gill into police custody despite torture being proven in court, I was booked in a terror case”.

When this news spread across the globe, it gave an impression of Pakistan being a “banana republic”.

“Whoever is making these decisions or whatever decisions they are taking, they should think of the country first,” Mr Khan maintained.

The PTI chief went on to say that the government was trying to arrest the leader of the “biggest party” in these cases. “They are afraid of the power of the PTI. There have not been such huge rallies in the history of Pakistan,” he claimed.

He further said the coalition government was trying to knock him out on technical grounds due to the fear of the PTI’s popularity, which was winning by-elections across the country. The country was being mocked just because some people want to protect their skins, he remarked.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2022