May 9 riots: Supreme Court grants bail to PTI founder in 8 cases

Islamabad: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has granted bail to PTI founder and former chairman Imran Khan in eight cases related to the events of May 9.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi approved the bail. The bench also included Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, who replaced Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb during a reshuffle earlier in the proceedings.

During the hearing, Special Prosecutor Zulfiqar Naqvi informed the court that he had been unable to appear the previous day due to illness. Chief Justice Afridi responded kindly, saying, "No problem."

Prosecutor Naqvi argued that observations in bail cases are always interim in nature and do not affect the trial. He cited multiple Supreme Court rulings that outline guidelines on bail, noting that such guidelines are not always uniformly followed.

He also read from the Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhry case, in which bail was granted. Chief Justice Afridi asked him to cite any case in which bail was denied in a conspiracy case, stating that in recent such cases, the Supreme Court had granted bail.

“Differentiate your case from those previous conspiracy-related cases,” the Chief Justice directed.

Naqvi argued that in this specific case, social media evidence exists linking Imran Khan to the alleged conspiracy, unlike in earlier cases where there was a lack of evidence.

Chief Justice Afridi, however, warned both sides not to argue the case on merit at the bail stage, stating:

 “Trial courts are responsible for determining merits. Let the evidence come there.”

Imran Khan's lawyer, Salman Safdar, said he had all previous bail cases related to conspiracy available for reference. The Chief Justice instructed the prosecutor to cite at least one Supreme Court ruling where bail was rejected in a conspiracy case, and clarified that: “In the cases where bail was granted, the names of the accused were not even mentioned in the FIRs.”

He added, “Denying bail in conspiracy-related cases is generally difficult.”

The prosecutor argued that the accused had not cooperated during the investigation in jail despite permission from the trial court to conduct voice matching and other forensic tests. He also presented witness statements, photogrammetric and voice matching test reports, and WhatsApp messages as part of the evidence.

Justice Hasan Azhar asked: “Was any investigation done after the pre-arrest bail was granted on May 14? Did the accused cooperate?”

The prosecutor maintained that Imran Khan played a central role in all the cases, to which the Chief Justice responded:

“If we go into merits, then Salman Safdar will also argue in detail. If the Supreme Court comments on merits, it may affect the trial.”

Chief Justice Afridi emphasized again: “The Supreme Court is cautious in giving findings during bail hearings. Let the trial court deal with evidence and merit.”

After hearing both sides, the Supreme Court granted bail to Imran Khan in eight May 9-related cases. Chief Justice Afridi concluded:  “Don’t seek findings from the Supreme Court—law will provide its own findings. Let the trial court assess the evidence.”