Pakistan: Imran Khan gets 2-week bail in Al-Qadir Trust case

A two-member special division bench of Islamabad High Court (IHC) heard the bail plea of the former Prime Minister, a day after the Supreme Court of Pakistan termed his arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case “unlawful”.

When the bail plea was heard today, a large team of Punjab Police positioned itself outside the high court with arrest warrants against the PTI chief in at least 10 cases.

However, the Islamabad court in its order also barred authorities from arresting the PTI chief till May 17 in any new case.

Imran Khan arrived at the court around 11:30 am on Friday in a high-security convoy. He was taken for his biometrics immediately after reaching court, after which he was made to appear before the bench and heard his bail plea.

The area at and around the IHC turned into a fortress with heavy deployment of police and paramilitary troops deployed to avoid any untoward situation.

 ‘Will be arrested again’

Ahead of his bail plea hearing today, Imran Khan had said that he feared being arrested again by the "fascist" regime led by Shehbaz Sharif.

It can be recalled that moments after the Pakistan Supreme Court ordered the release of Imran Khan, the ruling government in the country, denounced the verdict of the top court and said it was determined to find other legal avenues to arrest the former premier.

“We will arrest him again,” perhaps on charges that were announced a day earlier of inciting the wave of violence, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan told Pakistan's Dunya TV on Thursday.

What is Al-Qadir Trust case?

Imran Khan, along with his third wife Bushra Bibi and their close aid cum PTI leaders - Zulfiqar Bukhari and Babar Awan, has been facing a National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) inquiry related to a settlement between the PTI government and a private property company - Bahria Town - which reportedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer.

They were allegedly involved in the formation of the Al-Qadir University Project Trust which aimed to set up ‘Al-Qadir University’ for imparting ‘quality education’ in Tehsil Sohawa of District Jhelum, Punjab.

The trustees of the trust signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bahria Town with a motive to receive donations from it.

As per the charges, the former Pakistan PM and other accused allegedly adjusted Rs 50 billion — 190 million pounds at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the government.

They are also accused of getting undue benefit in the form of over 458 kanals of land at Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa, to establish Al-Qadir University.

Internet, social media remain shut in Pakistan

Internet services and social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube remained shut for the fourth consecutive day in Pakistan amid protests over the arrest of Imran Khan since Tuesday.

With inputs from agencies

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