LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday extended interim pre-arrest bail of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and other party leaders in two criminal cases.

Earlier, Judge Ijaz Ahmad Buttar allowed an application of Khan for one-time permission to mark his attendance through a video link due to security concerns.

Barrister Salman Safdar also presented some documents to substantiate the security threats faced by the PTI chairman.

SSP Imran Kishwar, the head of a joint investigation team, was also present in the court.

The judge observed how police would arrest Imran Khan in case his bail petition was dismissed. He also reminded the counsel that social media ‘warriors’ would start trolling the court if it gave a decision against his client.

The counsel assured the judge that his client would surrender and join the police investigation as well.

Questioning the security risks to Imran Khan as claimed by his counsel, Judge Buttar observed that other politicians were roaming around freely.

Barrister Safdar said Khan appeared before the courts till there was no extreme threat to his life. He claimed that there were reports about an attack by snipers if Khan leaves his house.

Deputy Prosecutor Abdul Jabbar Dogar said he had no knowledge about threats to the PTI chief. He said the police could assist the court on this issue.

The judge suggested Khan’s counsel keeping his client in permanent custody of the police for security reasons. However, the counsel said it would curtail freedom of movement and expression.

Later, the judge extended the bail of Khan till May 4.

The counsel withdrew a bail petition of Khan in a third case relating to violence outside Zaman Park after the police said the arrest of the PTI chief was not required.

The judge also extended pre-arrest bail of Fawad Chaudhry, Farrukh Habib, Hammad Azhar, Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed and Ijaz Chaudhry till May 4.

The judge admonished Fawad and Hammad for not furnishing their bail bonds and observed that the police could arrest them at any time.

Fawad told the judge that a petition against the formation of the JIT was pending before the Lahore High Court. He asked the judge to discharge the PTI leaders in the cases.

The judge observed that the high court had not passed any stay order against the trial court proceedings or the investigation.

He also noted that no case had been registered without an alleged occurrence, therefore, the question of mala fide could not be raised at the investigation stage.

Racecourse Police had registered the cases against the former prime minister and other PTI leaders and workers on charges of attacking the police teams and burning official property and vehicles outside his Zaman Park residence. Besides Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, offences under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code have been included in the FIRs.

Police also registered a case against the PTI leaders on charges of concealing facts and evidence about the death of a party worker, Zille Shah, in a road accident.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2023