Daily Times

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday granted protective bail to former first lady Bushra Bibi till May 23 in the Al Qadir Trust case – the same case in which Imran Khan was arrested last week. Imran’s arrest was later declared “unlawful” by the apex court after which he was granted bail in the case till May 17 by the Islamabad High Court. Imran also accompanied his wife to the hearing Monday. Security guards held up a protective white sheet to cover the husband-wife duo as they arrived for the hearing.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Shakil Ahmad heard the case. At the onset of the hearing, the court expressed disappointment over the delay caused by Bushra Bibi appearing late. Justice Rizvi told the petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Khawaja Harris, to be careful and keep the sanctity of the court intact. “Where is the petitioner?” he asked. “I’m sorry. The petitioner will be appearing in a bit,” the counsel responded. At this, Justice Rizvi termed it inappropriate to make the court wait, adding that such behaviour won’t be tolerated.

“We are giving you time till 2:15pm,” the judge said. “We will dismiss the plea by 2:16 pm.” Subsequently, the hearing was adjourned for a bit. After the hearing resumed, Justice Rizvi made it clear that the petitioner should be present in court before the hearing starts. “This is embarrassing for both the lawyer and the court.” Bushra Bibi’s counsel told the court that he would ensure punctuality in future hearings.

NAB alleges that during his time as prime minister, Imran and his wife obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town’s Malik Riaz in return for letting the real estate tycoon adjust Rs50 billion that he paid as a settlement to a British crime agency, and which was returned to Pakistan by the UK, in lieu of a fine imposed on him by the Supreme Court.