ATC grants bail to Imran Khan till Sept 1

Islamabad: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Islamabad on Thursday granted pre-arrest bail to PTI Chairman Imran Khan till September 1 in a case pertaining to his threatening statement against Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chauhdry and Islamabad Police high-ups in a party rally.

ATC Judge Raja Jawad Abbas court accepted the interim bail of former prime minister against surety bonds of Rs 100,000.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman had sought bail the first information report (FIR) registered by the Margalla Police Station regarding his controversial statement. Imran Khan appeared before the court along with his legal team.

At the outset of hearing, Imran Khan’s lawyer Dr Babar Awan informed the court that an FIR had been registered against his client under sections of Anti Terrorism Act (ATA) on the complaint of Magistrate Ali Javed.

The court asked whether the petitioner had threatened the complainant magistrate.

In reply, Babar Awan requested the judge to first view the FIR. The complainant was Magistrate Ali Javed and his address mentioned in the FIR as the Deputy Commissioner Office, Islamabad.

He said his client was accused of giving a threatening statement about the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and Additional Sessions Judge, and the three persons were not the complainants in the FIR.

“IGP and DIG, you should be ashamed of it, we will not leave you and take legal action,” he quoted Imran Khan as saying and asked whether it was a threat.

He said his client also spoke of taking a legal action against Judicial Magistrate Zeba Chaudhry and “we have taken actions by approaching the Islamabad High Court (IHC)”.

The matter was also pending with the IHC in which the three persons were not the basic complainants, he added. Moreover, the police also nominated Asad Umar as an accused in the FIR who was in Lahore at the time of rally, the lawyer said, praying the court to grant interim bail to Imran Khan and also stop the police from arresting him.

After listening to the arguments, the court accepted the interim bail of Imran Khan till September 1, and stopped the police from arresting him.

Babar Awan then requested the court to grant bail to his client for a longer period as he (Imran Khan) was contesting by-election in nine (National Assembly) constituencies.

The court rejected the request and said it was granting bail to Imran Khan till September 1.