The Supreme Court adjourned on Tuesday the hearing of bail appeals filed by former prime minister Imran Khan until 12 August.
The PTI founder had approached the apex court after the dismissal of his bail applications in the May 9 rioting cases by the Lahore High Court (LHC).
A division bench of the apex court, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, postponed the hearing on account of general adjournment of Imran’s counsel, Salman Safdar.
Advocate Salman Akram Raja appeared before the bench and requested the court to reschedule the hearing for next week and issue notices to the respondents.
However, the bench declined his request and adjourned the proceedings till the second week of August.
The LHC, led by Justice Shahbaz Ali Rizvi, had previously rejected Imran’s bail, citing his alleged involvement in planning attacks on military installations in anticipation of his arrest on May 9, 2023.
Imran appealed to the Supreme Court on July 26, arguing that the prosecution had presented three conflicting narratives linking him to the alleged conspiracy, all of which were rejected by various courts.
The first version involved two police officials, Hassam Afzal and Asmat Kamal, who reportedly overheard the conspiracy on May 7 and May 4, respectively.
This claim was dismissed by the ATC-III Lahore due to late disclosure and insufficient evidence, leading to bail in FIRs 366/23 and 1078/23.
The second version alleged incitement through media statements but failed due to a lack of incriminating material and was rejected by the LHC.
The third version relied on new witness statements, including from PTI leaders Sadaqat Abbasi and Wasiq Qayyum, but was also disbelieved by ATC-I Rawalpindi, which discharged co-accused Bushra Imran on August 20, 2024.
Despite the rejection of all three versions by competent courts, the LHC denied Imran’s bail on June 24, based solely on statements from the two police officers.
Imran’s petition argues that the case qualifies as one of further inquiry, entitling him to post-arrest bail under Section 497(2) CrPC 1898.
