Islamabad High Court Grants Bail to Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan in Terrorism Case

The Pakistani police booked Imran Khan under the stringent Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) after the former prime minister was accused of threatening an additional sessions judge and a senior police officer during a rally in Islamabad on Saturday.

Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan was granted protective bail from arrest until August 25 by the Islamabad High Court on Monday, Dawn reported.

Earlier, Khan had sought pre-arrest bail from the High Court, a day after police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against him.

Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) chief, has been charged in a terrorism case on the complaint of Islamabad Saddar Magistrate Ali Javed after the former allegedly threatened female judge Zeba Chaudhry and senior law enforcement officials during his public address in Islamabad.

Earlier this morning, Khan's lawyers Babar Awan and Faisal Chaudhry filed his bail application in the Islamabad High Court.

The cricketer-turned-politician's bail plea mentioned that Khan was being targeted by the ruling coalition PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement) "for his fearless criticism, and extremely bold and blunt stance against corruption and corrupt politicians."

"And to achieve this malicious agenda, acting in a most unfortunate and clumsy manner, a false and frivolous complaint has been registered against him by the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police at the behest of the incumbent government," the plea added.

It further stated that the FIR registered against Khan was "politically motivated" before going on to emphasize that the "likelihood" of him absconding or tampering with evidence was negligible and hence, he should be provided protection from arrest.

Khan's lawyers argued in the petition that Khan has never been involved in any kind of criminal offense in the past and he was also willing to join the probe as and when called upon by the investigating agencies.

During the weekend, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief accused Islamabad's inspector general of police and his deputy of being hand in glove with the current Shehbaz Sharif government before threatening them with legal action.

"We won't spare you," Khan said, referring to the senior police officers on Saturday.

Khan didn't stop there as he slammed judge Zeba Chaudhry before saying that "action would be taken against her."

Meanwhile, the country's media regulator issued an order banning the broadcast of Khan's live speeches after his alleged threats to Islamabad police officials and the woman judge.