Imran gets preventive bail from arrest in 1 case, Lahore HC disposes plea in 2nd

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has secured preventive bail from arrest by the Lahore high court till March 3 in a case pertaining to protests outside the Election Commission of Pakistan office, Geo TV reported.

The second plea was disposed of by the high court after Khan’s counsel withdrew the petition, Dawn reported.

The bail to 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief by high court justice Ali Baqar Najafi comes after high drama outside the Lahore high court premises. A massive crowd of PTI supporters had gathered outside the court to welcome Khan as he arrived for hearing. He granted two deadlines of 5 pm and 7:30 pm to appear before the bench.

Social media was flooded with videos of Khan’s convoy being showered with rose petals as it made its way to the court. Massive police deployment was put in place at the main gate of the court.

Last week, an anti-terror court in Islamabad had rejected the ex-PM’s plea for an extension in his interim bail in the case.

A terrorism case was filed against the former cricket captain last October after his party workers took to the streets outside the Pakistan EC offices following the disqualification of their leader in the Toshakhana case.

Clashes were reported between the protesting PTI workers and police in cities including Islamabad, Peshawar and Karachi. The court had granted Khan a pre-arrest bail in October last year and summoned him on multiple occasions. But the PTI leader had failed to appear in the court, citing medical grounds on account of injuries received in an assassination attempt.