The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday dismissed a bail plea filed by former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in a case pertaining to protests outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The court had earlier adjourned the hearing multiple times as Imran’s legal team sought more time for consultations.
As the court resumed proceedings for the third time, counsel Azhar Siddique requested the court to withdraw the protective bail arguing that the Islamabad High Court had awarded relief to the PTI chairman in the case.
He also contended that another protective bail plea has been filed in the high court in a separate case and “we are waiting for it to be fixed before a judge”.
Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh then questioned why a contempt notice should not be issued to the counsel and the petitioner as the signatures differ on the petition, affidavit and paper of attorney.
Advocate Azhar replied he will “look into it”.
“It is tantamount to committing fraud with the court which can not be tolerated,” replied the judge.
The counsel further argued that Imran’s doctor, Faisal Sultan, is in the courtroom to assist the court, to which Justice Tariq said the doctor is not a party to the case.
Siddiqui then requested the court to again adjourn the proceedings till the other protective bail plea is fixed for hearing.
Expressing displeasure, the judge remarked that the bail plea being heard can not be withdrawn till a decision is reached over the differing signatures. The hearing was then adjourned till 4 pm.
When the hearing resumed again, Justice Tariq inquired regarding the former premier’s presence in court. The PTI chief’s counsel replied that Imran could not make it to court as he has health and security issues.
The counsel prayed to the court to either assign a bailiff, constitute a commission or verify the signatures from Imran via video link.
The court replied that the matter will be resolved according to law and the only two options available to Imran – either a contempt notice is issued to the petitioner or he comes personally to court to verify the signatures.
“Imran has security and health issues and we request the court to show leniency,” said the advocate.
The judge replied that if the court approves the suggestion of the petitioner’s counsel, will Imran verify on oath that the signatures were done by him and reiterated that the issue is now if Imran will verify his signatures while under oath.
“Can Imran verify and say, under oath, that the signatures are his in front of a commission,” asked the judge.
The counsel again stressed using a video link to verify Imran’s signatures. He added that the hearing of the second bail plea will now be heard by a division bench of the LHC, headed by Justice Baqir Najafi, and the legal team requires additional time for consultation with their client.
Dissatisfied with the reasoning, the judge started dictating the court’s order to which the counsel objected and again requested for leniency from the judge.
“Please give us some more time for discussion and we will follow the court’s order, but for now, we have to go to the proceedings of the division bench,” prayed the advocate.
Imran has ‘three options’
The court said that as per law, the petitioner has to appear before the court to get protective bail. On this, Imran’s counsel Azhar Siddique said that his client has health and security issues, saying that the PTI chief is facing threats from TTP and an assassination attempt has been made against his life already.
He said that under these circumstances, it would be difficult for his client to appear in court, requesting the court to allow him to appear via video link.
The court, while rejecting the request, said that the petitioner will have to appear in-person as per the spirit of the Constitution.
The court gave three options to Imran’s counsel. It asked him to withdraw the appeal or the court could give its verdict on it now. As the third option, the court said that it can adjourn the meeting for a few more days so that Imran Khan could be available to appear in the court.
On this, Imran Khan’s nephew Hassan Niazi said that they will look into the security issues of former prime minister, assuring the court that his uncle will appear in the court soon. The court subsequently adjourned the hearing till 6:30pm.
On the resumption of the hearing, the court dismissed Imran’s petition, saying that the former premier had been given enough time to appear in the court.
Imran’s lawyer said that their client will appear within a few minutes as he is on his way to the court. The division bench argued that Imran should have appeared within the stipulated time given to him.
The lawyers tried to stop the court but it dismissed the plea, stating that neither the petitioner nor his senior counsel were present in the court, therefore, the petition is being dismissed.
Source link: https://www.suchtv.pk/pakistan/punjab/item/118638-lhc-dismisses-imran-s-plea-for-protective-bail-in-ecp-protest-case.html