ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court in Islamabad extended until September 27 the interim bail of former prime minister Imran Khan and the leadership of his Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party in a case pertaining to violation of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
The law empowers district administration to issue orders in the public interest that may place a ban on an activity for a specific period of time. Such a ban is enforced by the police who register cases under section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for violations of the ban. Section 188 carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison or a fine, or both.
In August, a first information report (FIR) was registered against Khan on charges of flouting a ban on public gatherings exceeding four persons imposed under Section 144 by holding a rally to protest against the arrest and purported torture of Shehbaz Gill, his chief of staff, in Islamabad on the 20th.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Zafar Iqbal took up the applications moved by Khan and his aides — including Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, Asad Umar, and senators Faisal Javed Khan and Saifullah Niazi, among others.
Babar Awan, counsel for Khan, told the court that Niazi and Umar weren’t even in Islamabad at the time of registration of the case. “There is also a video recording of Umar [being present in Lahore],” he said.
At this, the judge asked the investigation officer (IO) to quash the case against those who did not participate in the rally.
Awan further told the judge that Khan was preparing to contest the upcoming by-election for nine National Assembly constituencies and, therefore, won’t appear today.
“When is the election?” the judge asked, to which Awan replied they were scheduled for September 25.
Subsequently, the judge accepted their requests to extend the bail period.
