- Islamabad’s Kohsar Police lodged FIR against PTI chief, his wife, Shahzad Akbar and Zulfi Bukhari
- LHC also bars police from arresting Imran’s wife in any case till June 13
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday granted protective bail to PTI chief Imran Khan till June 21 in a case pertaining to fraud and forgery in the sale of Toshakhana gifts registered at Islamabad’s Kohsar Police Station yesterday.
A single-member LHC bench comprising Justice Amjad Rafique granted the bail on a petition filed by the former prime minister seeking transitory/protective bail.
Toshakhana is a state repository responsible for stocking /storing gifts and other precious items given to Pakistani public office-holders during foreign visits and runs under the control of the Cabinet Division.
Since voted out of office through a no-confidence vote in April last year, Imran has been facing a number of legal issues over his retention of gifts. The issue also led to his disqualification by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and last month, he was indicted in the case.
PTI chairman, wife, Shahzad Akbar and Zulfi Bukhari named in fraud case
The Islamabad’s Kohsar Police registered first information report (FIR) against Imran on Tuesday, which also names his wife Bushra Bibi, former accountability czar Shahzad Akbar and PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari among others.
It alleges that the accused “committed fraud, forgery for the purpose of cheating and presented a fake receipt of our business letterhead wherein false receipt showing sale purchases of gifts such as watches, cuff links are fraudulently obtained from Toshakhana with false signatures was prepared”.
“As per the record, no such transaction regarding the sale and above-mentioned items has ever taken place with such nominated accused persons and neither the accused persons has sold us any such items,” it added, demanding that the nominated persons should be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted.
The FIR invokes sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467(forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Earlier on Wednesday, the PTI chairman filed a petition in the LHC, contending he was “falsely implicated” in the case with “malafide intention and ulterior motive”.
“The sole objective of naming the petitioner in the FIR is to harass, blackmail and politically victimise him” and requested that protective bail be granted.
The PTI chairman arrived at the court amid tight security as his security personnel stood guard with bulletproof shields.
During the hearing, Salman Safdar, the counsel for Imran Khan, argued that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had already initiated proceedings against the former premier in the Toshakhana case.
“Please grant us protective bail so that we can approach a relevant court in Islamabad,” he pleaded, adding that Imran was already set to appear in 11 cases in the capital city tomorrow (Thursday).
Subsequently, the court accepted his request and granted him protective bail till June 21.
Court bars police from arresting Bushra Bibi in any case till June 13
Separately, the LHC also barred the police from arresting Imran’s wife Bushra Bibi in any case till June 13 and summoned a report signed by the Islamabad police chief detailing all the cases registered against her.
The court orders were issued on a petition filed by Bushra Bibi, seeking details of all cases registered against her. A day earlier, the court had sought a report from the Punjab police on the matter.
During hearing on Wednesday, PTI lawyer Intezar Panjotha informed the court that Islamabad police, in its report, had said that no new case was registered against Bushra Bibi. “But only yesterday, a complaint was lodged against her at the Kohsar police station,” he argued.
At that, Justice Rafique told the police, “It isn’t right to miscommunicate with the court.”
Meanwhile, the FIA, Punjab police and Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) also submitted their reports in court.
For his part, the government’s counsel said apart from the Al-Qadir Trust case, no other FIRs were registered against Bushra Bibi.
