ISLAMABAD:Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), had his bail extended in nine different cases by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday.
After receiving a warning that his bail would be revoked for repeatedly missing court dates, the former premier appeared before the two-member bench presided over by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq in front of a heavily guarded audience. At the beginning of the hearing, Khan’s attorney, Barrister Safdar, argued that 140 cases had already been filed against the PTI leader, and that the petitioner had, to his knowledge, requested bail in every single one of those cases. The court instructed Khan to go to the trial court while extending Khan’s interim bail in seven terror cases for an additional 10 days.
CJ Farooq remarked that a medical report from a government hospital should be submitted to seek an extension in future and ordered to provide material on the plea seeking permission to appear through a video link.
Meanwhile, the court also extended Khan’s interim bail in two other cases related to threatening officers of the armed forces and the attempted murder of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha, till May 9.
Moreover, the IHC CJ also ordered fixing Khan’s plea for staying the action on cases against Khan on May 9.
At one point during the hearing, the PTI chief came to the rostrum and revealed that he has informed the five-member bench at Lahore High Court about the person who can harm him.
“If I take his name, none of the newspapers will publish that,” he said, accusing the person of running the caretaker government.
In an informal conversation after the two-member bench left the courtroom, Khan replied to a journalist’s question regarding meetings with American diplomats. “We want good relations with everybody,” he said.
His remarks came days after PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry met US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome.
Khan, in a lighter yet sarcastic tone, said that the number of cases registered against him will soon hit a double century.
“In cricket I only managed to score 170; however, in politics I’ll score a double century,” Khan lamented.
Taking a jibe at the former chief of army staff General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, Khan revealed: “During several briefings, Bajwa said that there is no oil in tanks.”
“I was surprised that what kind of an army chief is he who is talking about such things,” he said.
During the conversation, he also condemned Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s trip to India.
In response to a question regarding the rifts among the puisnes, Khan said the reference against Justice Qazi Faiz Isa was initiated from people in positions above General (retd) Faiz Hamid.
“We were told that the law is equal for everybody, therefore we also gave answers,” he said, adding that they [the PTI] were told the answers need to be taken from Qazi Faez Isa.
“Later we realised that there was some other intention behind all this,” he added.
Earlier today, the PTI chief said he would appear before the court despite “pain and swelling” in his leg because he “respects the court”.
Sitting in a wheelchair to be moved to the car before leaving for Islamabad, Khan — in a brief video statement released on social media — said: “[We] respect the courts, so will appear [before the court] despite pain and swelling in the leg.”
