ISLAMABAD    -    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday extended in­terim bails to Pakistan Teh­reek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in seven different cases registered against him for ten days.

A two-member bench of the IHC comprising Chief Jus­tice (CJ) of IHC Justice Aam­er Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb conduct­ed hearing of the bail petitions in different cases including the Judicial Complex riot case. The bench also directed him to ap­pear before the relevant court within this period. 

Besides this, a single bench of IHC comprising Justice Aamer also extended Khan’s bail in two cases including mutiny case for five days.

The cases were registered against the PTI chairman at Gol­ra, Bara Kahu, Ramna, Khanna, and CTD police stations after the police accused the PTI chief and party workers of being in­volved in attacking police and creating unrest outside the FJC in Islamabad during the hear­ing of the Toshakhana case on March 18.

During the hearing, Khan’s counsel Barrister Safdar told the court that 140 cases have been registered against his cli­ent till today and they have re­quested bail in all the cases that were in our knowledge. He added that it is his client’s right to know if there is any secret FIR. The counsel mentioned that Khan had gone to the FJC earlier to secure bail but a security situation had arisen and after that, more cases were filed for which the PTI chief had approached the courts as well. 

At this, the IHC CJ said that the court would give him protection to approach the concerned court but he did not join the investigation yet. He added that the bench had repeatedly said since the first date that it would only provide protection.

Khan’s counsel contended that all the cases were made on political bases and a heavy contingent of police is pres­ent outside to which Justice Aamer re­marked that you said that there are se­curity threats, that is why the security arrangements were done.

Barrister Safdar said that the govern­ment wanted from Khan to appear be­fore seven different investigation offi­cers in seven cases. 

He further said that they are ready to record the statements for these seven cases right now. 

The IHC CJ said, “Your client is present in Islamabad right now and the investi­gation officers are also here and he may record the statement today.” He added that this statement will not be recorded by only submitting a paper. He directed him to follow the procedure determined for recording a statement by police. 

The Advocate General (AG) objected to the medical report submitted by Imran, saying that it was from a private hospi­tal, which is unacceptable.

At this point, PTI leader Fawad Ch ap­peared on the rostrum and complained that his party chief came to the court in an injured condition yet he was not al­lowed to bring his vehicle inside the court premises.

The AG said that motorcycles and cars were set on fire when Imran appeared at the FJC. The court expressed its disap­proval of Fawad’s continuous interven­tion in court’s proceedings. 

The judge said that the court wanted to give you relief and if you do not want to take it, then as your wish. He added that they would pass an order on this.

Later, hearing the other two cases against Imran related to mutiny and at­tempted murder charges, the IHC CJ ex­tended Imran’s interim bail till May 9.

In this matter, Barrister Safdar re­quested the court to hear the cases until the district courts shifted to a new build­ing. At this, Justice Aamer said that do not go to this and the lawyers are even saying that they will be shifted after the summer holidays. He added that you may give the material on the video link request so that the court can make a de­cision on it.

Justice Aamer further said that Imran had submitted a plea seeking an exemp­tion from a court appearance and not­ed that a government hospital’s report should have been attached with it.

Then, the AG assured the court that the government would provide him (Im­ran) with access to a hospital of his own choice. He informed the court that the petitioner is saying that 140 cases have been filed against him but they may tell if a single case was filed in Islamabad that is not genuine.

Khan’s counsel reiterated his claim of ill-intended cases being made against his client, saying that the criminal cas­es were registered by wrongfully using state machinery.

The IHC CJ directed the petitioner to first join the investigation and if you ever have to seek an exemption from atten­dance for medical reasons, do so but le­gally, a private hospital’s medical report is not accepted.

The AG said to the court that you are giv­ing (Imran) relief in a sweet atmosphere. The IHC CJ asked him that so what else should it do? The advocate general said to tell one case that was “false”.

At this point, Imran’s counsel asked the court for a 12-day extension in Imran’s bail. The court noted that a petition per­taining to attending court hearings via a video link was under hearing and that the court had asked the special prose­cutor for legal documents related to the case. The advocate general assured the court that the state would provide fool­proof security if the petitioner would ap­pear for investigation.

Later, the court extended Imran’s in­terim bail till May 9 and issued notices to the respondents in the case filed at Ram­na police station. The court also direct­ed Barrister Safdar to submit documents related to the case of attending hearings via a video link.