Marking an end to the hours-long chaos created inside its premises, the Lahore High Court (LHC) approved Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s protective bail plea till March 3 in a case pertaining to protests in Islamabad.
Meanwhile, the high court disposed of the PTI chief’s second petition in the case regarding protests outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after he withdrew his plea.
The ousted prime minister, who was removed from power via a no-confidence move in April, was booked in the terror case in October last year after the Toshakhana verdict was announced by the ECP, sparking countrywide protests.
On February 16, a two-member bench of the LHC threw out Khan’s plea seeking protective bail in a terror case registered against him over alleged vandalism during the protests in Islamabad against his disqualification by the ECP over his non-appearance.
The FIR stated that the PTI activists pelted stones at the police, FC, and administration officials, injuring several. It stated that the protesters tried to ram their cars into police with the intention of murder, set trees on fire in Faizabad and the surrounding areas and tried to harm government property. The terror case was lodged on the state’s behalf at Islamabad’s Sangjani police station.
After Khan appeared before the court, the two-member bench granted him a protective bail till March 3.
“Under the law, the petitioner is required to approach the court of first instance but in the interest of justice, we are inclined to grant him ad-interim anticipatory bail protective in nature until 03.03.2023 to enable him to approach the court of first instance,” the written order issued after a while mentioned.
The court, however, clarified that this order shall cease to have its legal effect after the said date.
