LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench on Monday reserved its verdict on the post-arrest bail petitions of incarcerated PTI founding chairman Imran Khan in eight cases of May 9 riots.

The bench comprising Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Tariq Mahmood Bajwa reserved the decision after lawyers from the petitioner and the government sides concluded their arguments.

The bench is likely to announce the verdict on Tuesday (today).

In his final arguments, a prosecutor had told the bench that the petitioner instructed his party workers and leaders to attack military installations.

He said the audio recording of the PTI founder had been forensically examined and was to be matched with his voice, but the accused refused to undergo the voice-matching tests.

The prosecutor alleged that on May 9, attacks were carried out on military installations and anti-army slogans were raised on social media platforms and websites run by the PTI workers.

Barrister Salman Safdar, the counsel for Imran Khan, argued that the petitioner was implicated in these cases at a later stage. He said many interim bail petitions had been pending for the past one and a half years.

He said the case of the PTI founder was different from others as he was already under arrest.

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) had on Nov 27, 2024, denied bail to the former prime minister in these eight cases.

The bail petitions argue that the prosecution failed to establish the petitioner`s association with the unfortunate occurrences narrated in the FIRs.

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

They argue 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 concocted by the investigating agency.

YouTuber: A sessions court on Monday disposed of YouTuber Rajab Butt’s bail petition in a rape case after police declared him innocent in the investigation.

Additional District & Sessions Judge Syed Najaf Haider Kazmi heard the pre-arrest bail petitions of Rajab Butt and three other suspects.

The investigating officer informed the court that Butt and two other accused were not found guilty during the investigation.

At this, Butt’s counsel requested to withdraw the bail plea, which the judge accepted and disposed of the petition.

The judge also extended the bail of a co-suspect, Salman Haider, till July 3.

Nawab Town police had registered the case on the complaint of a female social media influencer. The complainant accused the suspects of kidnapping and sexually assaulting her.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2025