The Punjab Home Department on Monday granted permission to conduct trials in prison for those accused of disrupting the country’s law and order and attacking Jinnah House following the arrest of former premier Imran Khan on May 9.
The trials of three cases related to the attack on Jinnah House, Askari Tower and Shadmand police station will be held within the premises of Central Jail Lahore. The cases implicate members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s top leadership, workers, and social media activists.
Special prosecutor Syed Farhad Ali Shah explained that the special court presided over by anti-terrorism court Judge Arshad Javed will oversee the jail trials for these cases.
He clarified that the decision was made due to the substantial number of accused individuals involved in the cases, making it logistically challenging to transport them to and from other court premises. The aim is to expedite the trials, as per ATC rules, which mandate daily proceedings for the Jinnah House attack case.
Regarding the trial of PTI Chairperson Imran Khan, Shah said that Imran’s bail request had been denied due to non-prosecution in the Jinnah House attack case. His trial may be conducted via video link from Adiala jail.
In a separate development, the ATC judge dismissed post-arrest bails for two accused individuals, Muhammad Mujahid and Faheem Noor, in the Jinnah House attack case. However, the judge also adjourned the proceedings for the post-arrest bails of seven other accused persons until October 10.
