On Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued a statement to the prosecution in a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, who challenged the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) rejection of his bail after share in eight cases linked to May 9-Innseens.
A three-member bench from the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi and consisting of Justice Shafi Siddiqui and Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the case.
The bench led by CJP Afridi noted that the court would not give any final finding that could affect the benefits of the pending case.
CJP Afridi asked both the defense and prosecution to help the court with the legal question of whether the final observations can be made in a bail.
He noted that LHC had made a final opinion in his guarantee decision and raised the question of whether such findings were allowed.
Read: PTI heavy weight jailed for ‘attacks on state institutions’
Previously rejected LHC bail petitions filed by PTI founder in eight cases linked to May 9, 2023, riots, which received sharp criticism from the party, which called the decision to an “obvious abortion of justice”.
The decision, held by a two-member bench led by Justice Shahbaz Ali Rizvi, followed the end of arguments from both prosecution and defense.
Imran’s legal team had claimed that the former prime minister was implicated without credible evidence while he was already in custody and denied any involvement in the violence.
Before the Point Court on Tuesday, Punjab -Government Attorney Zulfiqar Naqvi told the court that no notice had been issued to them in the case, as CJP said the message would be issued today.
By denying PTI adviser Salman Safdar’s request to prepare the hearing, the court planned the consultation for August 19 according to the schedule.
Protests on May 9, 2023, broke all over the country after IMRAN’s arrest from the premises of Islamabad High Court (IHC), where he appeared for a hearing in connection with a transplant case. Several civil and military installations were damaged during the protests and subsequently chaos.
Imran, who has been imprisoned since August 2023, is still a central figure in Pakistani politics despite his radiance in April 2022 through a vote without confidence. Several PTI leaders and workers remain jailed over the events on May 9, while others have been given bail.
