ISLAMABAD, Aug 22(ABC): PTI Chairman Imran Khan has secured transit bail for three days till August 25 after he filed a pre-arrest bail application in the Islamabad High Court earlier to avoid arrest in a terror case filed against him last (Sunday) night.
A first information report (FIR) was registered against former prime minister Khan under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) for threatening an additional sessions judge and senior police officers of the Islamabad Police at a rally in the federal capital’s F-9 Park.
PTI lawyer Faisal Chaudhry and Babar Awan had filed the plea on the former PM’s behalf, who maintained in the plea that he is ready to appear before the court whenever summoned.
The plea stated that Imran Khan has no criminal record from the past and has never been convicted for any offence.
“There is no chance of fleeing or damaging evidence presented by the prosecution. Imran Khan is also ready to submit money as surety against his bail,” the plea stated.
However, the IHC registrar’s office had raised three objections over the plea, which are as follows:
- Imran Khan did not undergo bio-metric verification before filing the plea.
- He approached IHC instead of the relevant ATC court.
- He didn’t provide a verified copy of the terror case.
But when Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Babar Sattar heard the case, they granted Khan transit bail till August 25, overruled the registrar office’s objections, and asked Khan to approach an anti-terrorism court (ATC) by August 25 — as it is the relevant forum in the case.