Daily Times

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday approved Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s protective bail plea till March 3 in a case pertaining to protests in Islamabad.

The former prime minister secured relief from the LHC as he appeared before the court in two separate cases after being given the ‘last chance’ for an in-person appearance. LHC’s Justice Ali Baqar Najafi approved the protective bail in a case related to offence 7-ATA along with others mentioned in the FIR after hours-long delay as Imran was unable to enter courtroom due to a large crowd gathered outside the court to welcome the former prime minister.

The second petition was heard by a single bench led by Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh which disposed of the PTI chief’s bail application in a case pertaining to protests outside the ECP. “Under the law, the petitioner is required to approach the court of first instance but in the interest of justice, we are inclined to grant him ad-interim anticipatory bail protective in nature until 03.03.2023 to enable him to approach the court of first instance,” the written order issued after a while mentioned.

The court, however, clarified that this order shall cease to have its legal effect after the said date.

During the hearing of the case, Imran told the court that he respected the courts and added that his doctors had advised him against walking due to his leg injury. “My party’s name is Tehreek-e-Insaf (movement for justice) and I expect the same from courts,” he added. The PTI chairman ‘finally’ appeared before the LHC after several notices served to him in order to present himself in two separate hearings as the judges told his lawyers that his presence was mandatory in bail pleas. Despite reaching LHC premises within the allotted time – 5pm – the disposed prime minister could not appear before the court till around 7:30pm as his convoy was surrounded by a massive number of party supporters. Khan’s convoy faced difficulty in moving towards the courtroom due to a large number of lawyers and supporters gathering outside to support their party leader. Amid the mismanagement, the cricketer-turned-politician remain seated inside his car as a massive number of people increased security risk. Due to the delay, the LHC had granted the former prime minister the last few minutes to present himself before the court after the initial deadline of 5pm lapsed, warning lawyers that the judges would leave if the former prime minister won’t reach the courtroom in the given time. The court ordered the security officials to immediately present the PTI chairman in the courtroom, following which Khan stepped out of his car amid tight security and limped towards the courtroom. The former premier first appeared before the division bench headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi in a case related to offence 7-ATA along with others mentioned in the FIR.

Later, Khan appeared in Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh’s court as the LHC had noted the discrepancy in the documents last week during the hearing of a protective bail plea of Khan, who was unwilling to appear in court due to security concerns. During the course of proceedings, Justice Sheikh, in a bid to maintain the decorum of the court, directed to vacate half of the courtroom. The judge expressed his announcement and went back to his chamber when the lawyers turned a deaf ear to his direction.On the occasion, Azhar Siddique offered selfies with Khan in return for vacating the courtroom. Later, the judge returned to the courtroom and resumed the hearing of the case.