Pakistan’s Imran Khan’s appearance at the Lahore High Court turned into a show of support, as thousands of his followers made their way to Lahore High Court where the former prime minister appeared for a bail plea. Reuters
The country is on the brink of a default, or as its Defence Minister Khawaja Asif stated that it’s already bankrupt. But Pakistan’s economic woes — and the list is ever growing — weren’t in the spotlight on Monday. People in thousands thronged the streets of Lahore and raised slogans in favour of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, as he received protective bail in a terrorism case.
The former prime minister arrived at the Lahore High Court with thousands of his supporters at his back nearly an hour after the 5 pm deadline. Once inside the court premises too, Khan had to calm his cohorts even as they continued to chant slogans in his favour.
After much chaos, a two-member bench of the Lahore High Court led by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi granted the protective bail to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman till 3 March. “Khan appeared before the court and said that he wanted to appear before it last week but doctors had advised him to rest as his leg wound would heal in over two weeks. He also said he always respected the courts as he is an upholder of justice. He said ‘justice’ is also included in his party’s name,” the official said. News agency PTI reported that Justice Najafi appreciated Khan for submitting to the law and granted him protective bail until 3 March and refrained the police or any other agency from arresting him.
The 70-year-old Pakistan leader’s plea for bail in another case, which was registered in Islamabad and pertaining to protests outside the office of the Election Commission on Pakistan was disposed of after Khan withdrew his petition.
What is this case all about?
In October 2022, terrorism charges were slapped on Imran Khan and the leadership of the PTI after they urged workers and supporters to carry out protests across the various Election Commission offices in Pakistan.
The protests had come after Khan was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the Toshakhana case. Khan’s supporters had come out on the streets of Pakistan to protest.
In the northwestern city of Peshawar, groups of supporters, dozens each in size, had blocked a number of key roads including the highway connecting the city to the capital Islamabad.
In Islamabad, protesters had blocked a key arterial road and were pushed back with teargas. He said that the protesters attacked the police with bricks, injuring three officials, and had tried unsuccessfully to block others roads in the capital as well. Dozens of Imran Khan’s supporters also blocked roads in the eastern city of Lahore, setting fire to tyres.
In Faizabad, PTI workers had, according to officials, tried ramming police personnel with vehicles, set public property ablaze and also damaged government property.
The protests continued until PTI chief Imran Khan called them off in a video message, telling them to focus on the “long march” on Islamabad, which would be the “largest protest movement” in the country.
Supporters of Pakistan’s former prime minister, Imran Khan, react ahead of his arrival at the high court in Lahore, Pakistan. Reuters
Why such a big deal over Imran’s appearance?
Imran Khan’s appearance in court became a big show of support for the ousted premier with workers showering rose petals on his vehicle as it made its way to the Lahore High Court. In fact, a distance of 10 minutes took two hours to complete.
This was the first time Khan appeared before a court of law after he sustained bullet injuries in November 2022’s attack on his rally in Punjab province.
Khan had moved the Lahore High Court after an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad cancelled his bail in the case over non-appearance on 15 February.
Also read: Pakistan’s crisis is only going to worsen: What happens if the country defaults
What are the cases against Imran Khan?
After his ouster, for which he blames the military, Imran Khan has been facing a slew of cases — all threatening to finish his political career.
In May of last year, an FIR was lodged against Imran Khan on the charges of desecration of the Prophet’s mosque in Madina, hooliganism and hurting the sentiments of Muslims after his supporters allegedly shouted slogans, calling Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ‘chor‘ and ‘gaddar‘ during his visit to Masjid-e-Nabwi in Saudi Arabia.
In the same month, the Pakistan Police had booked Khan and several others over the riots that took place during the former’s ‘Azadi March’, which was undertaken to protest against the Sharif administration. Two separate FIRs were filed in the case, which mentioned the burning of metro bus stations, damaging government vehicles and protesters breaking the glass windows of the offices of news organisations Geo News and Daily Jang.
A Pakistan magistrate court had also issued an arrest warrant for the former Pakistan prime minister in October 2022 for allegedly threatening a female additional district and sessions judge named Zeba Chaudhry.
During a rally, he had threatened to lodge cases against his political opponents and the top brass of the police and the Election Commission over the treatment meted out to his aide, Shahbaz Gill, who was nabbed on the charge of sedition. In this regard, he had also targeted Judge Chaudhry, who had given the go-ahead for Gill’s two-day physical remand. Khan had said that Chaudhry should “prepare herself as action would be taken against her,” news agency PTI reported.
Hours after his speech, Khan was booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act. However, the terrorism charges against him were dropped after the intervention of the Islamabad High Court and the case was transferred from an anti-terrorism court to a normal sessions court.
The most serious of the cases was the Toshakhana case for which he was disqualified from holding public office. He was accused of not declaring some gifts bestowed upon him by rulers from foreign nations, or the profit obtained from selling them.
Present Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had said that Khan had sold state gifts worth Rs 140 million in Dubai. “I can confirm that Imran Khan took gifts from Toshakhana and sold them in Dubai for Rs 140 million ($7.6 lakh). Valuable gifts include diamond jewellery, bracelets, watches and sets,” Sharif had alleged.
With inputs from agencies
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