Pakistan court approves bail to Imran Khan in prohibited funding case

A Pakistan court on Monday approved the interim bail of Pakistan TehreekeInsaf chief Imran Khan in the prohibited funding case A court in Islamabad granted interim bail against the surety bond of Rs 100000 valid till October 31 Geo News reportedThe move to seek bail from the special court came after Islamabad High Court IHC last week granted protective bail to the PTI chairman till October 18 Tuesday in the same case under the condition that Khan would approach the relevant courtThe Federal Investigation Agency registered the case against Imran khan and his party members for allegedly submitting false affidavits to the Election Commission of Pakistan in connection with a prohibited funding case against his party Dawn reportedPTI chief Imran Khan sought bail after the FIAs Commerical Bank Circle in Islamabad registered a first information report FIR against him and other PTI leaders on October 6The FIR stated The PTI submitted an affidavit of Abraaj founder Arif Masood Naqvi before the Election Commission of Pakistan stating therein that all the amounts collected in the accounts of WCL Wootton Cricket Limited were submitted into PTIs account in Pakistanthe affidavit has been proved to be falseforged as two more transactions were also made from WCL to two different accounts in Pakistan in May 2013It also mentioned United Bank Limited UBL for its failure to report suspicious transactions to the authorities concerned reported DawnSubsequently Imran filed a plea for protective bail contending that relief was needed so he could surrender and approach the competent court having the jurisdiction to entertain his bail petitionAlso Read Pak with nuclear weapons is one of the most dangerous nations in world BidenDuring the hearing of the case Imrans lawyer Salman Safdar told the court that two other people booked in the same case by the FIA earlier approached a court for bail However the female additional sessions judge had recused herself from hearing both cases he addedThis case belongs to either the banking court or special central court There is no mention of fake accounts in it the lawyer said as quoted by DawnPakistan probe agency filed the FIR including sections 420 468 471 477A and 109 read with sections 5 and 23 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947Apart from Imran Khan Sardar Azhar Tariq Tariq Shafi and Younis Aamir Kiani have also been named in the FIR the report addedAccording to the FIR the probe agency alleged that Abraaj Group a capital market company had transferred USD 2100000 to the PTI account in the branch of a bank situated at Jinnah Avenue in IslamabadIt is pertinent to mention that Abraaj Group is currently in liquidation due to accusations of fraud In addition the party received more financing from two bank accounts of Wootton Cricket Club read the FIR The probe agency said that the manager of the private bank also helped FIA in investigating the questionable transactionsAccording to Geo News the FIA said that the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan by businessman Arif Naqvi was also falseThe FIR also mentioned the manager of the same bank branch had also been nominated in the case It added that there were 12 currency transaction reports and suspicious transaction reports that had to be reported by the bank officials to the concerned authorities but they failed to do soThe FIR came a day after the Islamabad High Court IHC issued a notice to the FIA in the prohibited funding case after Imran Khans party asked the institution to stop the agency from the investigationOn October 10 a district court in Lahore sent PTI leader Hamid Zaman on a 14day judicial remand in the prohibited funding caseThe FIA had registered a case against Zaman a trustee of the Insaf Trust over prohibited party fundingThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever