Online Desk: An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad on Tuesday granted PTI chief Imran Khan bail in eight cases pertaining to the violence at the Judicial Complex. The court approved the bail, while hearing the PTI chief’s plea, till June 8. The former premier is also expected to appear before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Islamabad later today in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case. Imran has already stated that he sees “80 percent chances” of his arrest when he will be in the capital for his court hearings.

During a session on Twitter Spaces last night, however, Imran called on his supporters to remain peaceful in case he is taken into custody. “I urge people to remain peaceful because if you get violent, they will get a chance to crack down again. We have to always protest peacefully,” he said.

The PTI chairman claimed the chances of his arrest were “high” even though he had secured bail in all cases. “I have all the bails required but the situation is such that they can arrest me again,” he said. He added that peaceful protest was a fundamental right and nobody could stop people from organising a non-violent demonstration, even outside the General Headquarters.

Earlier this month, the NAB had summoned Imran and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case and the investigation into the alleged misuse of authority as public office holder in aiding and abetting illegal transfer of £190 million, for personal gains, but they did not appear before the bureau.

Imran, however, had submitted a detailed reply on May 18 and said that he was not the custodian of the document signed between property tycoon Malik Riaz’s family and the National Crime Agency (NCA) neither did he have any copy of the document. “All the allegations made by you in the call-up notice are absolutely false, frivolous and concocted, and based on a deliberate misconception of law and facts, and baseless conjectures and surmises,” the PTI chief said in his reply. He said the correspondence between the government of Pakistan and NCA, UK constituted an official record and should be with the department concerned.

“Similarly, the correspondence (sought by NAB) comprises official records and should be with the department concerned of the government, and I cannot provide the same as I am not its custodian,” he said, adding that documents regarding the Al-Qadir Trust would be available with the chief finance officer (CFO). “In this respect [CFO] informs me that he has already provided you (NAB) with the bulk of the documents mentioned in your call-up notice. Accordingly, you may kindly check your record before issuing me a fresh call-up notice as requested,” Imran said.

He also termed the case “politically motivated”. “Your (NAB) allegation that a call-up notice dated 02-03-2023 was earlier issued to me, but I neither joined the inquiry nor provided documents specified therein … This allegation is absolutely false and contumaciously malicious,” he said and added during the entire course of the inquiry, NAB sent only one call-up notice which was promptly responded to.

“Thereafter, you neither sent me any further call-up notice during the inquiry, nor did you refute the purely legal objections” he added. He said the NAB purportedly completed the inquiry and converted it into an investigation on April 28, but he was not provided with a copy of the inquiry report. The PTI chairman accused the accountability watchdog of playing an “instrumental [role] in my abduction”. He said he was present in the high court to file a plea seeking a court order to acquire a copy of the investigation report, but he was taken into custody. “You, after taking me into custody pursuant to my illegal arrest, delivered to me a copy of the said inquiry report,” he said in response to the notice.

He further said he would request that before serving him a call-up notice and recording his statement, a copy of the said inquiry report along with his clothes and shaving kit he had left behind at Police Lines Islamabad might also be sent to him at his Zaman Park residence.

Subsequently, NAB had on May 19 again served summons on Imran and his wife for May 23 (today) to record their statements. Imran was whisked away from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises by paramilitary forces in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case on May 9, leading to violent protests across the country. The PTI chief had immediately approached the high court for release but it had declared his arrest legal.

On May 10, an accountability court in Islamabad granted the graft watchdog eight-day remand of Imran. The ex-premier had then moved the Supreme Court, which had declared the arrest to be “unlawful” on May 11 and had told Imran to appear before the IHC the next day. “The manner of execution of the arrest warrant issued by the Chairman, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) dated 01.05.2023 in the Al-Qadir Trust case within the premises of the IHC against the petitioner is invalid and unlawful,” the ruling had said. The top court had also highlighted that the fundamental rights of the petitioner under Articles 4, 9, 10-A and 14 of the Constitution had been infringed.

On May 12, the IHC barred authorities from arresting Imran in cases — including those that are undisclosed — registered across the country until (May 15). The court had also accepted Imran’s bail petition in the Al-Qadir Trust case for two weeks and stopped authorities from arresting the PTI chief till May 17 in any case registered in Islamabad after May 9. Last week, the IHC had extended its order to prevent Imran’s arrest in cases filed against him after May 9 until May 31.