Court stops NAB action against Imran till June 19

ISLAMABAD    -    The Islamabad Accountability Court Wednesday granted inter­im bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-In­saf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case of 190 million pounds.

AC Judge Muhammad Bashir, who heard the pre-arrest bail pe­tition of former prime minister in an investigation into the Al-Qa­dir trust scam by the Nation­al Accountability Bureau (NAB), accepted the bail against surety bonds of Rs 500,000 and stopped the Bureau from arrest­ing Imran Khan till next date.

Imran Khan appeared before the court as per the IHC’s direc­tive to approach the account­ability court within three days. At the outset of hearing, Imran Khan’s lawyer Khawaja Harris informed the court that the bail petition of his client had already been prepared so that it could be filed on same day if needed.

He said Imran Khan would ar­rive in Islamabad on June 17 to appear before the Anti-Terror­ism Court and prayed the court to grant him bail till that day. NAB’s Prosecutor Arif Sohail, however, requested the court to fix another day as there was Saturday on June 17, and record rooms used to be closed on Sat­urday. The court, however, ac­cepted the interim bail of Imran Khan till June 19, and stopped the Bureau from arresting him.

The Accountability Court (AC) Wednesday also declared the interim bail petition of Bushra Bibi, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan’s wife, as ineffective in 190 million pounds’ investigation initiated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The court, in its written order, said it had been told that nei­ther Bushra Bibi’s arrest war­rants had been issued so far nor her custody was required in the said case. It said Bushra Bibi had filed a petition seek­ing pre-arrest bail in the said case, which was being disposed of under Section 498 of the NAB Ordinance. 

AC Judge Muhammad Bashir announced the verdict after hearing arguments against the petition. NAB Investigation Of­ficer Mian Umar Nadeem and Bushra Bibi’s lawyer Khawaja Haris appeared before the court during hearing. 

During hearing, NAB’s Dep­uty Prosecutor General Sardar Muzafar Abbasi said that PTI’s Chairman Imran Khan in his statement on May 13, used un­ethical words against NAB and its chairman. Imran Khan had been doing a false propaganda against NAB and claimed that the bureau had issued arrest warrants against his wife, he ar­gued. The NAB prosecutor said neither the Bureau had conduct­ed a raid not it had issued arrest warrants against Bushra Bibi. The Bureau had had no person­al conflict with anybody and pe­titioner Bushra Bibi should co­operate with it whenever she was summoned for investiga­tion. The NAB investigation of­ficer also confirmed that no ar­rest warrants had been issued against Bushra Bibi so far as her custody was not required yet. 

After the statements of NAB officials, the court declared the bail petition as ineffective.

NAB had initiated an investi­gation against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi with regard to the Al-Qadir Trust, a scam of 190 million pounds.

Also, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Wednesday ex­tended protective bails of de­posed prime minister and PTI’s Chairman Imran Khan in eight cases including Al-Qadir Trust and instructed him to approach the relevant courts for fur­ther relief. A division bench of IHC comprising Justice Mian­gul Hassan Aurangzeb and Jus­tice Saman Rafat Imtiaz con­ducted hearing of petition filed by Khan and directed him to ap­proach the relevant account­ability court within the same time period.

Khawaja Haris Advocate rep­resented Imran while Nation­al Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor Muazaffar Abbassi appeared on behalf of the bu­reau. During an informal con­versation with the journal­ists in the courtroom, the PTI Chairman dispelled the im­pression of any differences be­tween him and President Dr Arif Alvi. When Khan was asked that whether he was in contact with President Alvi, he replied that it is not true that he has no contact with the President. He said that had the President not signed the document then it would have become a law ei­ther way. He further said that in the present scenario, there is no choice except to hold elections. He maintained that government and the establishment are the same thing and the latter is run­ning the government.

Khan also said that he started talks with the ruling coalition for the sake of country. In re­sponse to another question re­lated to the PTI and leaders and members who were leaving the party, he said that this is an at­tempt to blackmail him.

During the hearing, Harris said that his client was appear­ing before multiple courts in Is­lamabad which was leading to a number of security issues. He added that apparently, millions of rupees are spent in the name of security on the petitioner’s arrival to the court.

Justice Miangul asked if Imran had joined NAB’s investigation into the case to which Harris re­plied in the affirmative. Subse­quently, the court directed the PTI chief to approach a rele­vant accountability court within three working days. It also ex­tended Imran’s protective bail in the case for three days.

The IHC also heard two more petitions filed by the PTI Chair­man related to the violation of Section 144 and a bar on Islam­abad police for arresting him in any case registered after May 9. Khan’s counsel Ali Gohar Advo­cate and Additional Attorney General Munawwar Iqbal were present in the court. Khan’s lawyer said that over 150 cases were registered against his cli­ent which means that he has to appear for investigation in ev­ery case. Later, the IHC bench extended Imran’s protective bail on both petitions for 10 days and restrained the police from arresting him in any case lodged within the jurisdiction of Islamabad after May 9.