Pakistan Supreme Court approves former PM Imran Khan’s bail in eight May 9 cases

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, got some relief after the country’s Supreme Court approved the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder’s bail in eight May 9 cases. According to Pakistani news outlet Geo News, the verdict was announced by a three-member bench — led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Yahya Afridi and comprising Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Muhammad Shafi.

The justices were hearing the plea of PTI founder against the rejection of his bail by the Lahore High Court. In June this year, the high court dismissed the incarcerated prime minister’s bail petitions in separate cases related to the May 9 riots. The cases against Khan also include the attack on Jinnah House in Lahore.

It is pertinent to note that the former Pakistani premier has been behind bars for over two years now. The PTI founder moved to the country’s Supreme Court against the LHC verdict, contending that the first information report (FIR) lacked sufficient evidence.

What Khan’s plea entailed

The plea also termed the allegations of Khan’s involvement in the riots as baseless. According to Geo News, Khan’s plea states that he was in the NAB custody at the time of the riots, and hence he couldn’t take part in the ruckus that was happening across Pakistan.

The plea also raises doubts over the case based on “contradictions” in the prosecution statements. The PTI founder’s appeal sought further investigation into the case, as he suspected mala fide intent on the part of the police for avoiding his arrest for five months and called the delayed police statements “unreliable”.

During the hearing, the Pakistani chief justice Afridi asked prosecutor Zulfiqar Naqvi regarding the evidence against the suspect, to which the latter said that three witnesses had testified against Khan, coupled with the availability of a photogrammetric and voice matching test, Geo News reported.

“WhatsApp messages are also available,” Naqvi said, adding that the trial court had approved carrying out various tests, but the suspect did not cooperate. “There will be legal repercussions [for this]. Why are you saying all that is only going in your favour?” CJP Afridi responded.

Meanwhile, the politician’s lawyer, Salman Safdar, said that the challan is that the said eight cases had not been presented against Imran and the former prime minister was only named in three of the FIRs. Noting that if the SC gave an observation on the merits of the case, the trial would be affected by it, CJP Afridi announced the verbal verdict accepting the PTI founder’s bail petitions in eight May 9 cases, Geo News reported.