A day after the Supreme Court deemed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan's detention from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises "unlawful," a division bench of the IHC on Friday granted Khan two-week bail in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
The PTI chief‘s bail plea was heard by a division bench comprising Justices Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Saman Rafat Imtiaz in courtroom number 2.
Khan’s lawyer also submitted four further petitions asking the IHC to combine all of the cases against him and order the authorities to disclose the specifics of the charges brought against him.
The hearing started after a delay of about two hours as security checks were being conducted outside the court.
However, due to Friday prayers, they came to an abrupt end not long after they started at 1pm. Khan was present in court with his legal team when the hearing resumed at 2:30 p.m. Imran's lawyer, Khawaja Haris, presented his points.
Haris argued before the court that the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) action was unlawful. He asserted that the probe had to be properly transformed into an investigation before NAB could issue an arrest warrant.
According to Haris, media reports were how the PTI learned that the NAB had formally opened an inquiry into Khan. He added that the PTI chief had gone to the IHC on May 9 to get the NAB report about the investigation, but was detained before reaching the court.
During the hearing, the petitioner was questioned if he had received a questionnaire related to the matter, and Haris responded in the negative.
He said that Imran Khan received a call-up notice but chose to respond in writing instead of showing up. Haris added that the Nab was acting "biassed."
The court subsequently acknowledged Khan’s plea for bail and told the NAB prosecutor general and Khan’s lawyers to be ready for the next hearing, when it would determine whether or not to terminate or extend the PT chief’s bail.
The PTI chief‘s bail plea was heard by a division bench comprising Justices Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Saman Rafat Imtiaz in courtroom number 2.
Khan’s lawyer also submitted four further petitions asking the IHC to combine all of the cases against him and order the authorities to disclose the specifics of the charges brought against him.
The hearing started after a delay of about two hours as security checks were being conducted outside the court.
However, due to Friday prayers, they came to an abrupt end not long after they started at 1pm. Khan was present in court with his legal team when the hearing resumed at 2:30 p.m. Imran's lawyer, Khawaja Haris, presented his points.
Haris argued before the court that the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) action was unlawful. He asserted that the probe had to be properly transformed into an investigation before NAB could issue an arrest warrant.
According to Haris, media reports were how the PTI learned that the NAB had formally opened an inquiry into Khan. He added that the PTI chief had gone to the IHC on May 9 to get the NAB report about the investigation, but was detained before reaching the court.
During the hearing, the petitioner was questioned if he had received a questionnaire related to the matter, and Haris responded in the negative.
He said that Imran Khan received a call-up notice but chose to respond in writing instead of showing up. Haris added that the Nab was acting "biassed."
The court subsequently acknowledged Khan’s plea for bail and told the NAB prosecutor general and Khan’s lawyers to be ready for the next hearing, when it would determine whether or not to terminate or extend the PT chief’s bail.