PTI supporters clash with anti-riot police outside court as Imran arrives for hearing.

LAHORE    -    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chair­man Imran Khan Monday secured preventive bail from arrest by the La­hore High Court till March 3 in a case pertaining to protests outside the of­fice of the Election Commission of Pa­kistan. His second plea was disposed of by the high court after Khan's counsel withdrew the petition. 

A massive crowd of PTI support­ers had gathered outside the court to welcome Khan as he arrived for hear­ing. Imran was given two deadlines of 5:00pm and 7:30pm to appear before the bench in person to get the relief.

The bench directed Imran Khan to approach the court concerned till March 3, adding that the order would cease to have its legal effect after the said date. The division bench com­prising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi passed the orders while disposing of a peti­tion filed by Imran Khan for protec­tive bail. During the proceedings, PTI Chairman Imran Khan appeared be­fore the bench. Imran’s counsel ar­gued before the bench that Sangjani police had registered a case against his client un­der Section 341, 427, 353, 186, 147, 149, 188, 506, 109 of Paki­stan Penal Code and Section 7 of Anti-Ter­rorism Act.

He submitted that the court concerned dismissed the in­terim bail of his cli­ent for non-prosecu­tion after he failed to appear due to in­juries in an unfortu­nate incident. He sub­mitted that his client wanted to approach the court concerned for relief but needed some time for the pur­pose. He pleaded with the court to grant two weeks protective bail to his client to enable him to appear before the court concerned. At this stage, the PTI chairman submitted that his leg had been healed to some extent but doctors had ad­vised two weeks’ rest, adding that he would undergo check-up on February 28. The PTI chairman further sub­mitted that he re­spected courts. Sub­sequently, the court granted protective bail to the PTI chairman till March 3.

Earlier, the bench took up the matter and ordered the LHC secu­rity incharge to pro­duce the PTI chairman in the court after being informed that he was present in the court premises, while reject­ing a request to verify his presence through court staff. Imran’s counsel had plead­ed with the court to mark the attendance of his client through the court staff as he was facing difficulty in entering the court due to the security reasons and presence of a large number of workers.

The PTI chief arrived at the LHC amid tight security. He entered the court premises fol­lowing security clear­ance, whereas a large number of party work­ers were also present on this occasion.

It is pertinent to mention here that the same division bench had earlier dismissed Imran Khan’s peti­tion for protective bail on February 16. Im­ran Khan had again approached the LHC on Monday through a fresh petition.

Later on, the PTI chairman appeared before Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh for clarification of his dif­ferent signatures on affidavit and power of attorney in a peti­tion for protective bail in another case reg­istered at Secretariat police station (Islam­abad). 

To a court query, Im­ran Khan said that the petition was filed without his consent. He submitted that he advised counsel Azhar Siddique to with­draw the petition af­ter the matter came to his knowledge, while seeking apology from the court. Subsequent­ly, the court disposed of the petition on be­ing withdrawn.

The court heard the matter at different in­tervals, during the day and had given last op­portunity to the PTI chairman for appear­ance. On February 16, the court had sum­moned the PTI chair­man for clarification of his different sig­natures on affidavit and power of attorney while hearing his peti­tion for protective bail in a case registered at Secretariat police sta­tion (Islamabad).

The court also or­dered the inspector general of police Pun­jab to finalise securi­ty matters in connec­tion with appearance by sitting with Imran Khan’s legal team.