A top court in Islamabad on Friday granted protective bail to Imran Khan till May 3. (file)
Islamabad:
A top court in Islamabad on Friday granted protective bail to Imran Khan till May 3 in a sedition case lodged against the former Pakistan prime minister.
A magistrate Manzoor Ahmed Khan filed a first information report (FIR) against the ousted prime minister at Islamabad’s Ramna police station earlier this month for “spreading hatred among institutions and the public” and “trying to cause irreparable harm to institutions”. Was. and their top officials”.
The FIR was registered under sections 138 (inciting an act of insubordination by soldier, sailor or airman), section 500 (punishment for defamation), and section 505 (statements leading to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
The FIR states that the cricketer-turned-politician, in a speech from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore on March 19, made several allegations against a senior Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official and allegedly “characterised” .
Imran Khan applied for bail earlier today at the Islamabad High Court (IHC), where Chief Justice Amir Farooq, after hearing the matter, approved his bail against a surety of Rs 100,000.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief traveled from Lahore to Islamabad for the case, where the police had taken stringent measures for his security.
A large number of PTI supporters were present on the occasion to show solidarity with their leader.
The 70-year-old PTI leader tweeted that his peaceful activists were detained by the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police.
“Our workers were sitting peacefully in their vehicles when the ICT police pulled them out and took them away in a brazen display of state repression. That is why they want the elections to be delayed because they feel they can Till can break PTI.” Fear of jail and harassment won’t do,” he tweeted.
The Dawn newspaper reported that in an informal conversation with reporters inside the courtroom, Khan said that he had requested Fawad Chaudhry and Shah Mehmood Qureshi to start talks with the government only if the ruling party agreed to immediately dissolve the assemblies and Be ready to conduct elections.
In the presence of both Chaudhary and Qureshi, Imran Khan said, “If they insist on holding elections in September or October, then there is no need to go ahead.”
The PTI is determined to press for elections to the provincial assemblies, but the federal government in Islamabad is maintaining its stand on simultaneous elections across the country.
The National Assembly will complete its five-year term in August this year. As per the constitution, elections will be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the lower house. This means the election should be held by mid-October. The last general election was held in July 2018.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)