ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) On Wednesday granted protective bail to PTI Chief Imran Khan till October 18 in the prohibited foreign funding case registered by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Reports in local media said IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah earlier summoned the PTI chief amid the hearing of his plea for protective bail and later he gets relief till October 18 against surety bonds worth Rs5,000.
Imran Khan also appeared in court as IHC CJ heard the plea and asked the PTI chief to appear before the court in 30 minutes.
In his bail plea, the counsel of the former PM maintained that PTI chief will suffer irreparable loss if arrested for an offense that he had not committed. It called former PM Khan a renowned politician and head of the largest political party, saying there was no apprehension of the petitioner absconding or tampering with the prosecution evidence.
Imran Khan was a law-abiding citizen and never been involved in any criminal case before and was fully aware of the consequences of breach of bail conditions, the plea said.
The ousted premier and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief approached Islamabad High Court, seeking protective bail a day after federal investigators booked him along with the party’s financial team and a manager of a private bank in a prohibited funding case.
On Tuesday, FIA Commercial Banking Circle lodged a case, months after the electoral watchdog maintained that the Imran Khan-led party failed to disclose accounts and that hiding accounts is a violation of Article 17 of the Constitution.
The FIR said the Abraaj Group, which is owned by business tycoon Arif Naqvi, allegedly transferred $2.1 million to the PTI account in the branch of a bank situated at Jinnah Avenue in the federal capital.
The FIA booked Sardar Azhar Tariq, Tariq Shafi, and Younis Aamir Kiani in the same case. It also stated that Arif Naqvi submitted a fake affidavit to the ECP in prohibited funding case.
Some officials of the bank branch have also been named in the FIR over failing to report the authorities concerned about suspicious transactions related to PTI.
ECP maintained that the party had submitted a fake affidavit about its bank accounts, and it had determined that the party hid 13 bank accounts that it should have declared.
ECP, in its written orders, stated that the PTI had received illegal funds from foreign countries including the US, UAE, UK, and Australia.
The former prime minister in his reaction said that the incumbent government wanted to malign him and his party by registering such cases.
