LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday granted the protective bail to PTI Chairman Imran Khan in case in a case pertaining to protests outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
A two-member bench headed by Justice Baqar Najfi granted him bail till March 3 after he appeared before the court after several notices were issued to him. Earlier, the LHC had made it mandatory to appear for the PTI chief to appear in person to get the bail.
Khan was given the last chance by the high court to appear by 5pm. However, he managed to reach the at 5:50 as hundreds of supporters present on the Mall Road forced his motorcade to move slowly.
Heavy deployment of police was made at the around the high court to avoid any untoward situation and bar the PTI workers to enter the court premises.
The PTI chief moved the high court for protective bail after an Islamabad anti-terrorism court on Feb 15 had turned down Imran’s request for an extension in his interim bail in the ECP protest case due to his non-appearance. The protests had been staged outside the ECP last year after it disqualified him in the Toshakhana case. Later, the PTI chief and other party leaders had been booked under terrorism act.
Despite entering the court premises at 6pm, the PTI chief appeared before the two-member bench at 7:30pm to mark his attendance. Imran Khan asked court to adjourn the case for two weeks as he needed to undergo medical examination on Feb 28. the PTI chief said he was recovering from the bullet wounds and a minor mistake could hurt the recovery process.
