LAHORE: A Lahore High Court two-judge bench on Thursday issued notices to the police and the prosecution on eight post-arrest bail petitions of PTI founding chairman Imran Khan in as many cases of May 9 riots, including the Jinnah House attack.

The bench headed by Chief Justice Aalia Neelum also directed the prosecution to present complete record of the cases against the petitioner at a hearing to be held next week.

On Jan 13, the bench had overruled registrar office’s objections on seven petitions while sustained on one bail petition, instructing the petitioner’s counsel to furnish a certified copy of Iddat case judgment against his client.

An anti-terrorism court had on Nov 27 denied bail to the former prime minister in these cases.

Filed through Barrister Salman Safdar, the petitions mainly argued that the prosecution failed to establish the petitioner`s association with the unfortunate occurrences narrated in the FIRs.

They said the petitioner has been implicated in the May 9 cases as a result of a well-orchestrated plan merely to harass and humiliate him for political reasons even though admittedly he was in the NAB custody.

The arrest of the petitioner was never required in the cases, which was evident from the fact that police remained reluctant to secure his arrest during the period of five months and 12 days after the dismissal of his pre-arrest bail by the trial court.

The sole allegation against the petitioner in the cases is of ‘abetment’, which has been supplemented by the prosecution most vaguely, the pleas added.

They argued that the trial judge overlooked the fact that frivolous and baseless allegations related to the May 9 events have already been rejected due to inconsistencies in the story of the investigating agency.

The petitions asked the LHC to set aside the trial court’s decision and grant bail to the former prime minister in the eight FIRs.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2025