Imran Khan gets interim bail in eight terrorism cases till June 8.

ISLAMABAD -- An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Tuesday granted interim bail till June 8, to Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI)'s chairman Imran Khan in eight cases registered by capital police with regard to protests, vandalizing public property and violation of Section-144 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

ATC Judge Raja Jawad Abbas heard the interim bail petition of former prime minister Imran Khan in FIRs registered in various police stations of Islamabad.

Imran Khan appeared before the court along with his wife Bushra Bibi at judicial complex Islamabad. Foolproof security arrangements had been made during the appearance of PTI's chief.

At the outset of hearing, the judge remarked that as per his knowledge, the petitioner had submitted his statement in only one case. Imran Khan's lawyer Salman Safdar Advocate said they had come for bail in eight cases, adding that Imran Khan had joined investigations and signed his written statements to submit in all cases but no one was ready to receive it. They had not approached this court directly rather, they got protective bail from IHC previously, he said.

The lawyer said that the JIT was constituted on the directions of Lahore High Court (LHC) for investigation and the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also directed his client to join the investigation. He said as the statements were ready to be submitted his client was ready to answer if the investigators had any further question. He prayed the court to grant permission for arguments in all cases simultaneously.

Prosecutor Muhammad Adnan opposed the interim bail petitions and adopted the stance that Imran Khan never appeared before the investigation team despite he was repeatedly summoned. Even he didn't appear before the JIT despite the orders of IHC, he said.

To a query of the judge, the prosecutor said that the accused should appear before the JIT when and where he was summoned. The court asked that why the JIT didn't record the...