ISLAMABAD: The chief justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday granted protective bail to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Amir Mehmood Kayani and his son Fahad Kayani in a corruption case.

The chief justice directed the petitioner to approach the Anti Corruption Court (ACC) of Rawalpindi within 10 days.

Kayani’s counsel Ali Bukhari argued before the court that the Anti Corruption Establishment of Rawalpindi has registered a case against PTI’s leader with malafide intentions.

He argued that the petitioner wanted to appear before the trial court and requested the court to accept the plea seeking protective bail.

He expressed apprehensions that the police may arrest Kayani anytime if protective bail was not granted.

Justice Farooq restrained the police from arresting Kayani till March 25 when the bail granting order would lapse.

Meanwhile, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri of the IHC acquitted PTI leader Shahram Khan in the case related to violence during the long march of May 25, 2022.

Justice Jahangiri observed that the prosecution could not place any tangible evidence to corroborate whether Khan was among the violent protesters.

The court subsequently quashed the case against him.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2023