Daily Times

In a major development, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday granted bail to former prime minister Imran Khan in the Toshakhana 2.0 case.

IHC’s Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb approved PTI founder’s bail plea, ordering the latter to submit surety bonds of Rs1 million each for securing the bail.

The court also directed the incarcerated former premier to appear before trial court following the bail.

During the proceedings, PTI’s legal counsel, Barrister Salman Safdar, argued that the charges against the PTI founder were based on the use of influence for personal gain.

He contended that the charge sheet did not clearly specify who the central accused was and that the case was filed more than three years after the alleged incident.

Barrister Salman further claimed that no crime had been committed under the Toshakhana policy, as the gifts were acquired in accordance with the established procedure.

Justice Aurangzeb also made significant remarks on the previous government’s policy of keeping Toshakhana details confidential, adding that such information was regularly withheld when sought by the court.

The FIA prosecutor countered, stating that the Bulgari set of gifts was not registered with Toshakhana, and alleged that the PTI founder and his wife had caused financial loss to the state by undervaluing the gifts.

The court adjourned the hearing after a break, during which the FIA prosecutor raised issues regarding the delay in the indictment of Bushra Bibi, the PTI founder’s wife, in the case.

After approving the bail, the court also warned that the bail could be revoked if misused in the future.

However, Information Minister Ataullah Tarar claimed otherwise, saying that Imran would not be released from jail due to not having bail in eight pending cases.

Speaking to the media, he said: “He (Imran) can’t be released since he doesn’t have bail in eight cases related to May 9 … and even this Toshakhana 2.0 case has to reach its logical conclusion and their arguments are very weak.”

Tarar said there was “no possibility of release”.

He added: “Even in the May 9th cases there is a lot of evidence that has come forward and the prosecution is working on it.”

He said there was still a lot of material and evidence left in the Toshakhana case and it still had to proceed in the trial court and be concluded.

Separately, the LHC denied pre-arrest bail to Imran in cases.

A petition was filed by Imran’s sister Noreen Niazi regarding his bail. It requested that a fresh list be furnished of all cases against Imran and that his arrest be stopped in any undisclosed cases against him.

The case was heard by Justice Farooq Haider.

Reports of cases filed against Imran by the Punjab and Federal Interior Departments were submitted to the court.

According to the Punjab Home Department, it had not registered any case against Imran.

The Islamabad Police had registered 62 cases against Imran, the federal government’s lawyer said, while 54 cases were registered in Punjab, according to the Punjab government’s advocate.

During the hearing, Imran’s legal team requested that he be granted pre-arrest bail in cases against him but Justice Haider rejected the plea, stating that the suspect must appear before the court in person for pre-arrest bail.

He consequently disposed of the application in light of all the reports submitted by the various government departments.