LHC reserves verdict on Imran Khan’s plea against bail cancellation,
Islamabafd/Lahore_Bail petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case hit another hurdle after the judge on duty went on bail.
Khan and Qureshi’s lawyers arrived in the special court on Monday only to be told by the staff that Judge Abu Alhasnaat Zulqurnain had gone on leave till September 8 on account of his wife’s illness.
The lawyers then made their way to Duty Judge Raja Jawad Abbas’ court to request him to hear the case. However, the judge told them that despite being incharge of 24 courts, he had no power to hear a case under trial in a special court.
When the PTI lawyers pressed him to suggest a solution, the judge replied that they should either get the case marked to him through the Islamabad High Court, or wait till September 9, when Judge Zulqurnain returns,
PTI’s lawyer told the Judge Abbas that as duty judge he could hear bail petitions. However, the lawyer said that if the judge thought he was ‘helpless’, they could approach the high court.
The judge replied that he was not helpless and told the PTI lawyer that he would not have used the word if he really knew the judge.
The court then asked both parties to present arguments over whether a duty judge can hear a bail petition.
Imran Khan is in Attock Jail while Shah Mahmood Qureshi is being held in Adiala Jail in the cipher case. The case, filed under the Official Secrets Act, accuses them of revealing the contents of cipher from the Pakistani embassy in Washington despite it being a classified document.
While,
The Lahore High Court reserved the verdict on the petitions of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against cancelling bail in seven cases related to May 9 riots.
A bench consisting of Justice Alia Neelam and Justice Asjad Javed took up the matter
An anti-terrorism court judge, Attock jail superintendent and others have been made parties in the PTI chief pleas.
Advocate Salman Safdar’s junior appeared in the court on behalf of the petitioner while Deputy Prosecutor General Rai Akhtar was also present in the court
As Justice Alia Neelam questioned why Barrister Salman Safdar skipped appearance, the junior lawyer replied the former was busy with a case in Islamabad
The judge questioned if the senior lawyer preferred that court to the High Court. The junior lawyer said his senior was busy at Islamabad High Court
The court allowed the petitions to be recorded
The petition challenged the dismissal of his bail plea, stressing that he had been a victim of political persecution.
The petitioner was convicted wrongly in the Toshakhana case on August 5 and his pre-arrest bail cancellation was unjustified and against the law, the court was told.
The petition requested the court should order the bails to be heard on merits and the petitioner should be provided with justice, .
The court adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.
