Pakistan court grants bail to Imran Khan in Islamabad judicial complex violence

The clashes erupted when Khan attended a much-awaited hearing in the Toshakhana corruption case. During the confrontation, over 25 security personnel were injured.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, center, leaves court after an appearance in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, May 19, 2023.

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan got a major relief on Tuesday when an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan granted him bail till June 8 in eight cases related to violence that erupted at the Judicial Complex here in March.

The cases were registered in different police stations of Islamabad against 70-year-old Khan after clashes erupted between police and his supporters when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief appeared before a court in the Judicial Complex on March 18.

The clashes erupted when Khan attended a much-awaited hearing in the Toshakhana corruption case. During the confrontation, over 25 security personnel were injured.

On Tuesday, Khan travelled from Lahore to the capital, Islamabad to appear before the anti-terrorism court located in the Judicial Complex.

After hearing arguments by lawyers, the court granted him bail in eight cases till June 8, his party said in a message.

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, the cricketer-turned-politician, was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan in October last year for not sharing details of the sales.

Meanwhile, an accountability court in Islamabad stopped the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting PTI chief Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi in the Al-Qadir Trust case by granting her interim bail.

The former first lady’s lawyer Khawaja Haris appeared before the court and filed an application for Bushra Bibi’s interim bail. During the hearing, Haris informed the court that Bushra Bibi did not receive any notice from the anti-graft body.

Subsequently, the court accepted the bail application till May 31 and issued a notice to NAB seeking its reply. Judge Muhammad Basheer also directed Imran’s wife to deposit a surety bond of Rs 0.5 million.

On May 15, a division bench of the Lahore High Court granted protective bail to the PTI chief’s wife till May 23 in the Al-Qadir Trust case. It was the first appearance by the former first lady in court to attend proceedings in a case lodged against her.

The deposed prime minister is already on bail till May 31 in the trust case.

The Al-Qadir Trust case is the same case in which Khan was arrested on May 9 and hours before announcing his decision to visit NAB on Tuesday, he said that he might be arrested again and urged his followers to stay calm.

“I urge people to remain peaceful because if you get violent, they will get a chance to crack down again. We have to always protest peacefully,” he said during a session on Twitter Spaces last night.