PTI chief moves IHC against bail cancellation

Islamabad: Former Prime Minister and PTI chief Imran Khan has filed nine separate petitions in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), challenging the dismissal of his pre-arrest bail pleas across various cases.

Imran Khan was found guilty on August 5 and given a three-year prison term. He is involved in about 180 cases, including those brought under the anti-terrorism statute.

The PTI chairman's pre-arrest bail applications were later denied since he was incarcerated and unable to appear in court. This was a result of his absence from the courts where he had initially filed them.

The state and complainants are named as respondents in the applications, which are brought forth by legal counsel Salman Safdar attorney.

Imran Khan urges that the IHC declare these trial court orders to be illegal, illegitimate, and in violation of the values upheld by Articles 4 and 10-A of the Constitution.

In order to "correct the previous denial of bail due to my non-appearance," he asks the IHC to direct the trial courts to thoroughly assess the cases on their merits.

The PTI chairman also requests that the IHC direct the respondents not to carry out his arrest warrants while his pre-arrest bail applications are still pending in a trial court.

“The dismissal of [these] application[s], lacking proper deliberation on the merits of the cases, [has] denied the petitioner his rightful access to a 'Fair Trial',” almost all the petitions add.