Former Pakistan prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has been granted bail in eight cases relating to violence at the Islamabad Judicial Complex. The anti-terrorism court in Islamabad approved bail until June 8th. Khan is also expected to appear in front of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Islamabad in relation to the Al-Qadir Trust case, where he is accused of whitewashing ill-gotten money. During the hearing, Khan claimed his life is at risk and that there had been an alleged assassination attempt on him at the judicial complex.
The judge reprimanded the prosecutor for not questioning Khan during custody, and questioned why the PTI chief wasn’t questioned during his period of police custody at the Police Lines office. The judge also questioned the prosecutor regarding the preferred method for Khan to participate in the investigation. The prosecutor said he wanted Khan to comply by appearing when summoned. During the hearing, the judge sought to enquire about the progress made by the government appointed Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and asked the prosecutor to fill him in but the prosecutor said Khan did not appear before the investigating officer despite being ordered to do so by the Islamabad High Court or the JIT.
Khan also told the judge that he and his legal team had complied with the JIT. The judge lashed out at the JIT for not being present in the courtroom. “This shows their lack of seriousness. If they were serious, they would have been present here. At least someone from the JIT should have been present,” Judge Abbas was quoted as saying by Dawn.
