Anti-Terrorism Court acquits ex Pak PM Imran Khan in May 9 riots case

Lahore [Pakistan], November 9 (ANI): An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore granted bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan in four May 9 riot cases, ARY News reported.
ATC judge Arshad Javed on Friday heard the bail pleas and approved the pleas filed by the former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The Prosecutor General of Punjab, Farhad Ali opposed the bail pleas and said that Imran Khan had informed his workers to attack important state buildings if he is arrested, ARY News reported.
Earlier, Khan on Tuesday moved Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the transfer of May 9 cases to military courts. He filed a plea through his lawyer Aziz Karamat Bhandari. He made the Law Secretary, Home Secretary, IG Islamabad, IG Punjab, IG Jails, DG FIA and the federal government as his respondents.
He pleaded with the court not to transfer May 9 cases for military court trials.
In a separate development, the Anti-Terrorism Court acquitted all 18 accused, including PTI workers, in the May 9 riots case due to lack of evidence. The defendants were accused of protesting in Landi Kotal on May 9, blocking the Torkham Road, damaging property, and damaging an Anti-Narcotics Force vehicle.
Judge Muhammad Iqbal of the Special Anti-Terrorism Court delivered the decision.
According to ARY News, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) administration had earlier written to Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) to propose the creation of a judicial panel to look into the May 9 riots.
The letter stated that the commission should be headed by a sitting or retired judge of the Peshawar HC.
The arrest of Imran Khan on May 9 resulted in violent clashes across the nation. As a result, the protests were held in remote and major cities as the party workers were agitated due to their chairman's arrest, with Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad summoning the armed forces to ensure law and order, ARY News reported. (ANI)