LAHORE: Justice Safdar Saleem Shahid of the Lahore High Court on Monday overruled an objection by the registrar office on a petition of former prime minister Imran Khan seeking protective bail in criminal cases of the May 9 riots.

The office refused to entertain the petition of Khan and directed him to present an attested copy of an order passed by the Supreme Court regarding his bail.

Justice Shahid overruled the office objection and directed it to fix the petition for hearing before an appropriate bench on Tuesday (today). The judge turned down a request of the Khan’s counsel for an immediate hearing of the petition.

The petition filed through Barrister Salman Safdar states that Imran Khan had no role in the law and order situation in the country after his illegal arrest by the NAB. It says the police registered a number of criminal cases against him and there is an apprehension that he may again be arrested.

It argues that most of the FIRs are not in the knowledge of the petitioner, which is illegal and mala fide on the part of the government and the police.

The petition asks the court to summon a report from the Punjab police about the registration of all disclosed and undisclosed cases and grant protection of the law to the petitioner against arrest in any case lodged before or on May 9.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2023