LHC grants protective bail to PTI chief in lawyer murder case

The Lahore High Court on Wednesday approved the former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s protective bail till July 3 in a case related to the murder of a lawyer in Quetta, Aaj News reported.

A two-member bench of the LHC, comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Muhammad Amjad Rafiq, heard Imran Khan’s petition seeking bail in the murder case.

The PTI chairman appeared before the court accompanied by his lawyer Ishtiaq Khan and others.

Imran Khan was booked as the main accused on June 7 in the murder of senior Supreme Court lawyer Abdul Raazaq Shar.

The slain lawyer’s son, Siraj Ahmad Advocate, filed the case at the Shaheed Jameel Kakar police station.

During the hearing, the former prime minister’s lawyer said that an FIR under section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code and section 7 of the anti-terrorism act (7ATA) had been registered against his client at the Shaheed Jameel Kakar police station in Quetta.

He read the FIR before the bench and raised concerns regarding the security of the PTI chairman.

He said that the PTI chief is willing to appear before the relevant court, but he fears an arrest by the police. The petitioner, therefore, requested a protective bail from the court.

The Punjab government’s lawyer said the PTI chief could approach the relevant forum.

After hearing both parties’ arguments, the court approved the protective bail of the PTI chairman till July 3.

On June 15, an anti-terrorism court in Quetta issued an arrest warrant for the PTI chief in the lawyer Abdul Raazaq Shar’s murder case.

The lawyer was killed on Quetta’s Airport Road after unidentified men on a motorcycle fired at him with a 9mm pistol. Of the 16 bullets fired, seven struck him in the head.