LAHORE: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Friday directed the superintendent Adiala jail to ensure attendance of PTI former chairman Imran Khan via video link in his pre-arrest bail petitions in three May 9 riots cases today.

Earlier, the counsel of the former premier pleaded for bail in the cases of attacks on the corps commander house, Askari Askari Tower and Shadman police station.

The lawyer told the court that he skipped hearing of Al-Qadir Trust case in Islamabad to present his arguments in the bail petitions. He pointed out that the interim pre-arrest bail of Imran Khan in four other cases had already been confirmed by another court. He said the other court had decided the bail petitions without presence of the accused.

The court asked the lawyer to present a copy of the other court's decision. The lawyer said he tried his best for the accused to appear in court from Adiala Jail, but later he compromised and agreed that the case be decided even without the petitioner’s attendance via a video link.

The court however asked the lawyer to complete his arguments today and ordered the jail superintendent to ensure the attendance of the petitioner on a video link.

An ATC had confirmed the pre-arrest bail of Imran Khan in four cases including murder of party worker Zille Shah, attack on police outside Zaman Park, and torching offices of PML-N in Model Town and a container at Kalma Chowk.

Meanwhile another court summoned former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in trial proceedings of Shadman police station attack case. The court directed the Adiala jail superintendent to present Qureshi in the court on July 8.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024