LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday adjourned the hearing of pre-arrest bail petitions of former prime minister Imran Khan in seven cases of May 9 riots.

Advocate Salman Safdar, the counsel of Khan, appeared before the court of judge Arshad Javed.

A deputy prosecutor told the court that there was some delay in the arrangements made to mark the attendance of Imran Khan from Adiala Jail on a video link.

The petitioner’s counsel said he would start his arguments after the attendance of his client.

He asked the court to adjourn the hearing for a date after the Feb 8 general elections. The judge observed that the Lahore High Court had directed the trial court to decide the bail petitions by Feb 6.

The counsel asked the court to order the appearance of Khan before the court at the next hearing.

The judge asked the prosecutor about the feasibility of the jailed petitioner’s appearance in the court.

The prosecutor said the high court had directed to mark the attendance of the petitioner on video link from the jail.

He said the prosecution would complete its arguments in all cases on the next hearing. At this, the judge adjourned the hearing till Feb 6.

A high court two-judge bench had set aside a decision by the ATC regarding the dismissal of the pre-arrest bail petitions of Khan for his nonappearance.

The bench said the trial court, keeping in view its previous order regarding the safety of the petitioner, shall mark the attendance of the petitioner through video-link from jail and decide all applications for pre-arrest bail till Feb 6.

The ATC on Aug 11, 2023, dismissed the pre-arrest bail of Khan over his non-appearance as he was jailed following his conviction in the Toshakhana case.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2024