ISLAMABAD: A multi-layered security has been put in place around the Islamabad High Court (IHC), where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and former prime minister Imran Khan will appear shortly, seeking bail in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Footage aired on television channels on Friday morning showed stringent security arrangements in place outside the IHC ahead of Imran’s appearance.
The former premier appears in the high court a day after a three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial declared his arrest from the IHC premises “invalid and unlawful”.
Imran was bundled away from the IHC premises by Rangers’ personnel on Tuesday after he reached the court, seeking bail in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case, which alleges that Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi obtained billions of rupees and the land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town owner Malik Riaz.
The PTI chief, through his counsel, challenged his arrest in the Supreme Court, which termed his detention illegal.
IHC Chief Justice Aamir Farooq had declared that Imran Khan’s detention from the court premises was legal.
Meanwhile, the PTI has announced that Khan’s supporters would converge at the Srinagar Highway in Islamabad’s Sector G-13 to express solidarity with their leader. The party said Imran would address his supporters after his court appearance.
The PTI’s announcement comes a day after Islamabad police issued a statement stating that Section 144, which bans public gatherings, had been imposed in the capital and asked political workers not to “obstruct the legal process”.
“We request those giving calls for protests in Islamabad not to cause disturbance of peace,” the capital police said in a tweet, adding that legal action will be taken against those inciting the public.
Earlier talking to a private channel, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that police would arrest Imran again.
He said that they will arrest him again. If he gets bail from the IHC, we would wait for the revocation of his bail and arrest him again.
