Banking court postpones order on Imran Khan’s interim bail

ISLAMABAD, Feb 15 (APP):The banking court of Islamabad on Wednesday postponed its order on the interim bail of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the prohibited foreign funding case in light of the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Banking Court Judge Rakhshanda Shaheen also confirmed the bail of the other three accused and disposed of the case of four others on the withdrawal of their petitions.

At the outset of the hearing, Imran Khan’s lawyer Barrister Salman Safdar submitted an application seeking an exemption from appearance for his client.
He said Imran Khan was 70 years old and currently had bullet injuries in his leg. He was even exempted from biometric verification due to his age.

Special Prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi argued that the IHC’s Registrar Office had raised objections over the petition of Imran Khan, who had no serious health issues and there was only a little bit of swelling in his leg. His medical report of a private hospital was not enough to get an exemption from attendance.

The prosecutor said Imran Khan also did not join the investigation process and prayed the court to cancel his interim bail due to non-appearance. He prayed the court to from a medical board to examine the health of PTI chief.

He said accused Tariq Shafi and Faisal Maqbool were also not cooperating with the investigation team.

After listening to the arguments, the court rejected the exemption request and instructed the PTI’s chief to appear before it on same day. The law would take its own course if he did not appear, it added.

In the meanwhile, the PTI’s lawyer informed the judge that the high court had stopped the banking court to issue its orders till February 22. The high court had given relief to Imran Khan on medical grounds, he said. The legal team also produced the high court’s order.

The banking court also confirmed the bail of accused Tariq Shafi, Faisal Maqbool and Hamid Zaman against surety bonds of Rs 500,000 each. However, the bail petitions of Saifullan Khan Niazi, Aamer Mehmood Kayani, Sardar Azhar and Syed Younis were disposed of as they decided to withdraw the same.