ISLAMABAD, May 12 (APP):The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday granted a two-week interim bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case and stopped the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from arresting him.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz heard the bail petitions of the former prime minister Imran Khan in corruption case. Imran Khan appeared before the court along with his legal team.
At the outset of the hearing, NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzafar Abbasi said the inquiry in the Al-Qadir Trust case was initiated on July 15, and call-up notices were served to the accused including Imran Khan, Zulfi Bokhari, Faisal Vawda, Muhammad Mian Soomro and a business tycoon.
He said Imran Khan did not appear before the anti-corruption watchdog in any case, while the other accused however, joined the inquiry process.
Advocate General Islamabad Jahangir Jadoon said there was no solid reason to file the instant case before the IHC while an alternate forum was available to the accused for getting bail.
He the army was deployed under Article 245 of the Constitution after the incidents of violence in the country. The IHC could not hear the case in the current circumstances, he pleaded.
The Additional Attorney General said the court could summon the Attorney General for Pakistan as well in the case.
The petitioner’s lawyer Khwaja Haris argued that arrest warrants of an accused could only be issued if he did not respond to the repeated notices of NAB.
To a court’s query, the lawyer further said NAB had not even served any questionnaire to Imran Khan and his wife in the case. The Bureau was bound to provide the inquiry report to the accused, which, however, shared with him after his arrest, he added.
Khwaja Haris said NAB converted its inquiry into an investigation on April 28. Imran Khan had responded to its two calls-up notices and it was essential to inform the details of the allegations to him in the call-up notices or the reasons for it, he added.
After hearing the arguments, the bench granted a two-week interim bail to the former prime minister and stopped the Bureau from arresting him during that period.
Earlier, Imran Khan arrived at the IHC from the Police Lines Islamabad amid foolproof security arrangements. The Supreme Court on Thursday declared his arrest from the premises of the IHC a day earlier as against the law and directed the PTI chief to appear before the IHC to pursue his bail case.
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