By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court has postponed hearing former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s challenges to being denied bail in eight cases linked to the May 9 violence, prolonging the legal uncertainty for the cricketer-turned-politician.
The decision, made Tuesday by a two-judge bench led by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, adjourned the proceedings until August 12, despite requests from Khan’s legal team for an earlier date and to notify the state.
Khan, ousted from power two years ago, contends that he was in custody during the alleged offences and thus could not have orchestrated the violence that erupted on May 9. In his plea, he argued that he was held incommunicado by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) at the time, making his involvement “impossible.”
His appeal also cites a prior Supreme Court ruling that an abettor not present at the crime scene holds a lesser legal standing than the principal accused. The cases stem from attacks in Lahore, including assaults on Askari Tower at Liberty Chowk, the PML-N offices in Model Town, Shadman police station, the burning of police vehicles near Jinnah House, and violence at Sherpao Bridge.
The Supreme Court’s move came after PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja informed the bench that senior counsel Salman Safdar, who filed the appeals, had sought an adjournment until next week.
Raja also requested notices be issued to the respondents, primarily the state via Punjab’s prosecutor general. The court, however, set the hearing for August 12, bypassing both requests.
Earlier, on November 27, 2024, an anti-terrorism court rejected Khan’s bail in these cases, a decision later upheld by the Lahore High Court. Khan’s fresh appeal asserts that he has faced “an unprecedented campaign of political victimisation” since his removal from office.
Meanwhile, Omar Ayub Khan, the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, has written to Chief Justice Afridi, spotlighting alleged procedural violations in the trials tied to May 9. Ayub called for a judicial inquiry into claims of misconduct by police and prosecutors and urged the reopening of concluded cases.
“This letter is a solemn appeal on behalf of myself, my party, and the many Pakistani citizens who have been caught up in the web of rushed and unfair May 9 trials currently being conducted in multiple cities,” Ayub wrote.
He criticized the Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATCs) in Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha, and elsewhere, saying they are handling cases “with a speed and manner that shocks the conscience of any impartial observer.” Ayub detailed how hearings often stretch into the early morning hours, sometimes until 2 or 3 a.m.
“This is neither justice delayed nor justice served — this is justice crushed and justice buried under the weight of exhaustion, coercion and haste,” he said. He accused authorities of wielding the trials as tools of political persecution, pointing to police reports and prosecutions he claims lack credible evidence and are riddled with irregularities. Media access to these proceedings, he added, has been “severely restricted.” “The courts must stand as bulwarks against tyranny, and when constitutional rights are trampled, it is their duty to restore justice and equity,” Ayub wrote, pressing the judiciary to act.
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