LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday granted bail to Shershah Khan, a nephew of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan.

A day earlier, the same court had granted post-arrest bail to his brother, Shahrez Khan, in a case linked to the May 9 riots.

ATC-I Judge Manzer Ali Gill allowed the bail petition and directed Shershah to furnish surety bonds of Rs100,000.

Earlier, his counsel Rana Mud­assar Umar argued that no challan (charge sheet) had been submitted against his client and it was unclear when the trial would begin. He contended that the suspect could not be kept in custody indefinitely without trial, adding that there was no evidence linking Shershah to rioting or vandalism at the Lahore corps commander’s residence.

He pointed out that Shershah was not accused of damaging property and that his implication was based solely on identification by his brother, Shahrez Khan, who was not even present in Lahore on the day of the alleged incident. The lawyer noted that Shahrez had already been granted bail in the same case.

Opposing the plea, a prosecutor argued that pictures on record established the suspect’s presence at the scene. He said the photographs had been obtained from the Facebook profiles of Shershah’s friends and urged the court to reject the petition.

The judge, however, granted bail.

During the proceedings, Shershah’s mother Aleema Khan and other PTI leaders were present in the courtroom.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2025