Lahore: A top Pakistani court has allowed protective bail to an embattled Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan on Friday. After appearing before the court, he was given bail in eight terrorism cases and a civil case. This comes hours after a different court suspended non-bailable arrest warrants against him till March 18 in a corruption case.
Khan, the 70-year-old leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, travelled to the Lahore High Court (LHC) in a bulletproof vehicle to request protective bail in nine cases.
A two-member bench of the LHC, comprising Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh and Justice Farooq Haider conducted the hearing on bail pleas filed against the cases that are lodged under terrorism sections, according to Geo TV.
For the five cases in Islamabad, the court granted bail to the PTI chief till March 24 and for the three cases in Lahore, Khan received bail till March 27, the report said
Meanwhile, Justice Saleem also heard the bail pleas that Khan filed against the civil case registered against him, it said.
Earlier, the Islamabad High Court suspended non-bailable arrest warrants issued against Khan till March 18, providing him with a chance to appear before the district court hearing the Toshakhana case.
Ahead of the LHC decision, a tense calm prevailed in Lahore’s upscale Zaman Park near Khan’s residence, which was the scene of pitched battles for two days between his defiant supporters and Punjab Police.
The clashes ultimately subsided after the courts intervened on Wednesday.
Khan has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana, and selling them for profit.
Established in 1974, the Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries
Khan was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan in October last year for not sharing details of the sales.
The election body later filed a complaint with the district court to punish him, under criminal laws, for selling the gifts he had received as prime minister of the country
Khan has vehemently denied those charges.
According to Khan, he was facing over 80 different cases in various courts across Pakistan.
Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician, was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan
Since his ouster, Khan has been asking for early elections to remove what he termed an “imported government” led by prime minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Sharif has maintained that elections will be held later this year once the parliament completes its five-year tenure.
With PTI inputs