STAFF REPORT
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to former prime minister Imran Khan on the principle of consistency in eight cases linked to the May 9 riots, overturning an earlier Lahore High Court ruling that had refused him bail. “The case of the petitioner has to be positively considered in view of the principle of consistency, as others similarly placed have been granted bail by this Court,” said the four-page order authored by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi. The three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Afridi, allowed Khan’s petitions against the June 24 decision of the Lahore High Court. The cases stemmed from multiple FIRs registered in Lahore after violent protests that followed Khan’s arrest. The cases, registered at different police stations including Race Course, Shadman, Mughalpura, Sarwar Road and Gulberg, related to offences under numerous sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, section 16 of the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960, and section 11-B of the Arms Ordinance, 1965. The order noted the “definite findings recorded by the Lahore High Court in the bail refusal order, which go to the very root of the contested claims of the parties.” However, it added: “Without passing any findings on the legality and veracity of the said findings, our concern at this stage is confined only to the fact that such findings have been recorded at the stage of bail.” The Court converted the petitions into appeals and allowed them. “The petitioner is granted post-arrest bail in the above-mentioned cases, subject to his furnishing bail bond in the sum of Rs100,000 with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court in each case,” the order stated. Sarwar Muzaffar Shah, an advocate commenting on the written order, said the ruling reminded him of a tribute to American judge Frank Caprio, whom he had been reading about earlier in the day. “He was loved and respected because he believed that law should serve the people; he did not consider it blind,” Shah said.
