LAHORE: The anti-terrorism courts on Tuesday extended till Feb 9 pre-arrest bail of former prime minister Imran Khan in seven cases of May 9 riots.

ATC-I Judge Naveed Iqbal heard the bail petitions in three cases of attacks on Jinnah House, Askari Tower and Shadman police station.

ATC-III Judge Arshad Javed took up the petitions for bail in four cases, including attack on party offices of the PML-N in Model Town, torching a container at Kalma Chowk, and violence outside Zaman Park.

Advocate Salman Safdar, the counsel for Khan, appeared before the courts and stated that he would advance his arguments once the attendance of the petitioner was marked from jail on a video link.

The courts adjourned the hearings till Feb 9 as arrangements in Adiala Jail were not made to mark the attendance of Khan.

The courts also extended pre-arrest bail of the former premier till the next hearing.

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

Later, a high court two-judge bench set aside the decision by the ATC and restored the bail petitions. The bench directed the trial court to mark the attendance of the petitioner through video-link from jail, keeping in view its previous order regarding safety of the petitioner, and decide all applications for pre-arrest bail till Feb 6.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2024