ISLAMABAD/RAWAL­PINDI: An acco­untability court on Friday remanded former premier and Pakis­tan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to NAB custody for four days in Al Qadir Trust case, while also extending the pre-arrest interim bail of his wife, Bushra Bibi, in the same case, as well as the Tosha­khana case, till Nov 21.

At the outset, when Judge Mohammad Bashir resumed hearing on the bail petitions of Bushra Bibi in the Federal Judicial Complex, he was told that the petitioner and her lawyer Sardar Latif Khan Khosa were both in Adiala Jail for a meeting with the ex-premier.

Since the judge was also scheduled to take up Mr Khan’s remand application in the court within the jail, he decided to conduct hearing on Bushra Bibi’s bail petition there and left for Adiala Jail.

At the hearing, NAB’s deputy prosecutor general Sardar Muzaffar Khan Abbasi submitted the application seeking 10-day physical remand of the PTI chairman. However, the judge only granted physical remand for four days.

While talking to reporters outside Adiala Jail after meeting her brother Imran Khan, Aleema Khan claimed the former premier was considering filing a lawsuit in the United States against diplomat Donald Lu, who he accused of toppling his government, if he did not get justice from courts in Pakistan.

She said he had found it appropriate to share Donald Lu’s message with public. This was not the time to repeat what was done to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, she added.

She said her brother was in good health and was satisfied with the food provided to him in the jail. She said he informed her that he had a good routine in jail and got the opportunity to exercise. He was also reciting the Holy Quran and reading books, she said, adding that she brought more books for him.

She said the Islamabad High Court had issued a stay order in the cipher case and those clauses were added in the case that could result in a death sentence or life imprisonment. “What crime has the ex-PM committed for which he was booked in such offences?” she questioned.

On the other hand, a division bench of the Islamabad High Court dismissed an application seeking restoration of Mr Khan’s pre-arrest bail plea in corruption case, observing that it became infructuous when Mr Khan is already in NAB custody.

The bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, however, suggested the counsel for the petitioner to approach the competent court for his release on post-arrest bail.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2023