Pakistan courts grant bail to ex-PM Imran Khan

Two courts in Islamabad granted interim bail to former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in three cases on Tuesday. This came even as a sessions court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him in the Toshakhana case for his repeated failure to appear before the court.

Imran Khan was required to appear for the hearing in the four cases and he travelled from Lahore to Islamabad for his first appearance in the federal capital after he was shot at a public rally in November last year.

The three cases in which he was granted bail include a prohibited funding case, a terrorism case and one for attempted murder.Hundreds of his supporters followed Imran Khan on his way to the courts while chanting and covering his car with flower petals.

In the fourth case – the Toshakhana case – the former Pakistan prime minister was charged with unlawfully selling gifts that he received as the premier from the state depository called Toshakhana

\Imran Khan’s lawyers said they would move the court to cancel the warrant because he was delayed from appearing for the hearing after appearing in three courts during the course of the day. They added that there the roads in the capital city were filled with Imran Khan’s supporters and led to traffic jams.

The ousted prime minister’s supporters have threatened countrywide protests if he is arrested. In February, Imran Khan called on his supporters to offer themselves for arrest in what he called the

‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’ (fill the prison movement). It came after sedition cases were filed against Tehreek-e-Insaf Senior Vice-President Fawad Chaudhry and former member of the National Assembly Shandana Gulzar.