Imran has no connection with transfer of amount, 240-Kanal land in Al-Qadir Trust case: Lawyer.

ISLAMABAD  -  Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the Islamabad High Court (IHC) order denying him post arrest bail. Imran Khan on Friday filed an appeal under Article 185(3) of the Constitution against the IHC order dated 14-11-23 through Advocate Sardar Latif Khosa.

He submitted that a Division Bench of the Islamabad High Court on 14-11-2023 allowed Crl.Rev. No.149/2023 inter se the same parties and set-aside the order dated 10-08-2023 passed by the Accountability Court -I Islamabad. He questioned how then could a contradictory order be passed in the instant case by dismissing the Crl.Revision as having become infructuous. 

He stated that both the petitions had been simultaneously ongoing before the Division Bench of the IHC and NAB on all dates had been categorically stating that the petitioner has not been arrested in the case but on the base of a fake fabricated and maliciously motivated document /photo state copy of a paper containing limitation as provision to section 32 ( C) of NAO, 1999 challenge was raised to the revision petition being barred by time which assertion was vehemently controverted as no such provision existed on the statute book.

The petition also said that it was ultimately on 07-11-2023 that learned Division Bench had to seek the opinion of the law Ministry and sequel whereto on 14-11-2023 Mr. Jam Muhammad Aslam Additional Draftsman Ministry of law and Justice Islamabad appeared and submitted that such a provision was not on statute book and that there was no limitation cap in filing of revision application. However, a day earlier on 13-11-2023 in order to overreach the adjudication by the Division Bench the petitioner was placed under arrest in the case.

It added that the High Court instead of ensuring justice to the petitioner rather giving premium to the misstatement of NAB disposed of the revision petition as infructuous. The counsel said that in the very Al-Qadir Trust Case the petitioner was arrested from within the biometric room of the IHC premises on 9th May, 2023 and Chief Justice strongly reacting to the illegal intrusion of rangers and manhandling of lawyers, court staff and ransacking the biometric room even then accredited arrest as a prima facie lawful. The appeal stated that grave miscarriage of justice has occasioned as access to justice has been denied to the petitioner repeatedly notwithstanding the categorical judgment of the Supreme Court which is binding under Article 189 and all authorities have to work in aid thereof in terms of Article 190 of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, The Accountability Court (AC) of Islamabad on Friday issued a written order regarding four days extension in the physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman in the Al-Qadir Trust case. AC-I Judge Muhammad Bashir, in the five-page order, said Deputy Prosecutor General NAB Sardar Muzafar Abbasi requested for further 10-day physical remand of the accused. The National Accountability Bureau told the court that Ali Zafar had appeared before NAB on November 23, following the summons and shared the relevant record.

The judge further said that the prosecution had stated that it had to investigate regarding the shifting of amount to the national kitty and there was need of further custody of the accused to conclude the probe.

The order further said that the defence lawyers opposed the request of further remand and stated that the PTI chairman had no connection with transfer of the amount and 240-kanal land. They stated that the PTI chairman PTI had constructed cancer hospitals in the country while the construction of third was underway in Karachi.

The court said that it was granting four-day remand of the accused and instructed the respondents to produce him again on November 27. Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday disposed of a miscellaneous application of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman for early hearing on his application seeking to withdraw appeal against the decision of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the Toshakhana case. Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, who heard the plea, observed that all the matters were proceeding together. The court would decide the matter in next week. The PTI chairman, in the miscellaneous petition, had stated that the application was filed on January 18, to withdraw his appeal. The court had reserved its verdict on September 13, after hearing arguments from two sides.