Zubair Qureshi Islamabad
The Islamabad High Court on Thursday granted PTI Chairman Imran Khan protective bail in a case registered against him for the murder of senior Supreme Court lawyer Abdul Razzaq Shar, who was shot dead in Quetta earlier this week, for two weeks.
The order was passed by a division bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.
Abdul Razzaq Shar was shot dead by unidentified assailants near Quetta’s Alamo Chowk on Airport Road on June 6. Police said he was on his way to the Balochistan High Court when his vehicle came under attack by unknown men armed with automatic weapons. The lawyer received 15 bullet injuries and died on the spot.
It may be recalled that Shar had filed a constitutional petition against the PTI chief in the Balochistan High Court, seeking proceedings against the ex-premier under Article 6 that pertained to high treason. His petition said that Imran Khan should be tried under Article 6 in light of the apex court decision which had recommended legal action against Imran Khan and former Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri for illegally dissolving the National Assembly after the joint opposition had moved a no-trust motion against the PTI government in April 2022.
On June 6, a first information report (FIR) was registered on the complaint of Shar’s son, Advocate Siraj Ahmed, against Imran at Quetta’s Shaheed Jamil police station in an “abetment to murder” case.
In the complaint, Ahmed said he was “certain” about the involvement of the former premier and others from the PTI in his father’s murder because of this case.
On Thursday, the PTI chief had filed a petition in the IHC seeking bail in the case. During the hearing, PTI lawyer Salman Safdar said his client would have to travel to Quetta for the case and pointed out that there were no flights available.
