A district and sessions court of Islamabad confirmed PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s bail in the threat to female judge case filed against him by the Islamabad Police. The PTI chief was granted interim bail in the case last week against surety bonds worth Rs50,000 till today. However, his lawyer, Babar Awan, submitted Rs5,000 for the bond but was informed that the amount was Rs50,000. Following this Khan arrived the court and submitted Rs50,000 for the bond. The former prime minister also appeared in sessions judge Kamran Basharat Mufti along with Awan. Prosecutor Wajid Munir was also present. During the hearing, Awan informed the court that his client has been named in two cases and asked the court to approve the bail. At this, the court asked prosecutor Munir to share his stance.

Munir told the court that Kohsar Police Station has attached section 505 in the first information report (FIR) which is a non-bailable offence. “Imran Khan gave a provocative statement,” said the prosecutor. But Awan told the court that a case was also registered at the Margalla Police Station, adding that ant-terrorism clauses were added in the FIR but it was removed on the orders of the high court. The judge then remarked that the public gathering was happening at the F-9 Park then how come section 144 applied to the case? He also remarked that the FIR does not include section 506-2, adding that there are bailable provisions in the case. After this, the court approved the bail of the PTI chairman. Last week, a sessions court had approved the interim bail plea of Khan till October 13 (today). Khan was booked in a case for threatening judicial magistrate Zeba Chaudhry and police officers at a rally in F-9 Park on August 20, to “terrorise” police officials and the judiciary.

The main aim was to prevent the police officers and judiciary from carrying out their legal obligations, stated the FIR. The FIR was registered on the complaint of Magistrate Ali Javed at Islamabad Margalla Police Station under Section 7 of ATA. However, the Islamabad High Court quashed the terror charges and directed to transfer the case to a relevant court under the remaining sections in the FIR on September 19. Following the order the anti-terrorism court, on September 20, transferred the case to a sessions court and removed the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) section from the case. On September 22, during a hearing of a contempt case in IHC, Imran Khan also requested the court to allow him to apologise to judge Zeba Chaudhry in person. Later, a magistrate of Islamabad Margalla Police Station issued the arrest warrant for PTI Chief Imran Khan due to his non-appearance in court. However, Khan acquired protective bail from the IHC till October 7.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP