Imran Khan's interim bail approved in prohibited funding case

By
Awais Yousafzai
|
PTI Chairman Iman Khan addressing party supporters. — AFP/File
PTI Chairman Iman Khan addressing party supporters. — AFP/File 

  • Court approves bail against surety bond of Rs100,000 till Oct 31
  • Court approves bail till issue of jurisdiction is decided.
  • Imran Khan also appears before court.


ISLAMABAD: A court in Islamabad on Monday approved the interim bail of PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the prohibited funding case till October 31 against the surety bond of Rs100,000.

The PTI chief’s lawyers had drawn up the bail plea in which they had urged the court to stop the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arresting Khan. 

The move to seek bail from the special court came after Islamabad High Court (IHC), last week, granted protective bail to the PTI chairman till October 18 (Tuesday) in the same case under the condition that Khan would approach the relevant court.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan also appeared before the court of Special Judge (Central) Raja Asif Mehmood today.

At the outset of today's hearing, Imran Khan's counsel argued before the court that the issue of jurisdiction is still pending before IHC.

At this, the judge asked the lawyer to read out the FIR. The judge stated that the petitioner appeared on the order of the IHC.

After hearing arguments, the court approved bail till the matter is decided by the high court.

FIA registers case against Imran Khan

Last week, FIA booked Imran Khan and other PTI leaders in the prohibited funding case as the agency ramped up the investigation into the matter.

The first information report (FIR) registered against the former prime minister has been lodged at the FIA's banking circle police station.

In the FIR, the federal agency alleged that the Abraaj Group transferred $2100,000 to the PTI account in the branch of a bank situated at Jinnah Avenue in Islamabad.

Abraaj Group was a private equity firm, operating on six continents, which is currently in liquidation due to accusations of fraud.

In addition, the party received more financing from two bank accounts of Wotan Cricket Club, read the FIR.

The FIA said the manager of the private bank helped the agency in its probe into the questionable transactions.

Besides Khan, Sardar Azhar Tariq, Tariq Shafi, and Younis Aamir Kiani have also been nominated in the FIR. The FIA said the affidavit submitted to the ECP by businessman Arif Naqvi was also false.

The FIR also mentioned the manager of the same bank branch had also been nominated in the case. It added that there were 12 foreign currency transaction reports and suspicious transaction reports that had to be reported by the bank officials to the concerned authorities, but they failed to do so.

The FIR alleged the branch's operations manager had also failed to report these illegal transactions to the concerned authorities.

The FIA has time and again summoned PTI leaders for questioning, however, not all of them have shown up.