Islamabad accountability court grants Imran bail in Al-Qadir Trust case till June 19

An Islamabad accountability court in Pakistan on Wednesday granted PTI Chairman Imran Khan bail in the Al-Qadir Trust case till June 19 against surety bonds worth Rs 500,000, reports Dawn.

The Al-Qadir Trust case alleges that the PTI chief and his wife, Bushra Bibi, obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from a real estate firm for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government.

Imran was whisked away from the IHC premises by paramilitary forces on May 9, leading to violent protests across the country. The PTI chief had immediately approached the IHC for release but it had declared his arrest legal.

Imran had then approached the Supreme Court, which on May 11, termed his arrest “invalid and unlawful” and directed him to appear before the IHC the next day.

Subsequently, the IHC had granted Imran bail in the case for two weeks and stopped authorities from arresting the PTI chief till May 17 in any case registered in Islamabad after May 9.

On May 17, the IHC had extended its order to prevent Imran’s arrest in cases filed against him after May 9 until May 31.

As the proceeding commenced, the judge asked Harris about the IHC’s order. The lawyer replied that the high court had instructed Imran to appear before a relevant accountability court within three days.

“So you filed a petition today?” Judge Bashir inquired.

“We had prepared a petition beforehand and decided to file it in case the need arises,” Harris responded and requested the court to grant Imran bail till June 17 as he had to appear before an anti-terrorism court in the capital on the same day.

Here, NAB’s Arif requested the court to fix another day as June 17 was falling on a Saturday. “Record rooms are closed on Saturday,” he said.

Subsequently, the judge extended the PTI chief’s bail till June 19 against surety bonds worth Rs500,000.