Terror case: IHC grants pre-arrest bail to Imran Khan till August 25

Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted on Monday three-day pre-arrest bail to former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in a terror case.

Earlier, in a petition filed by PTI lawyer Faisal Chaudhry and Babar Awan, the former PM said that he has no criminal record and has never been convicted.

The PTI chairman maintained that he is ready to appear before the court whenever summoned.

On Sunday, Imran was booked under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (punishment for acts of terrorism) regarding his comments during his Islamabad rally.

PTI leaders, workers gather at Bani Gala amid reports of warrant for Imran Khan's arrest

The first information report (FIR), a copy of which is available with Business Recorder, was registered at Islamabad’s Margalla police station at 10pm on Saturday under the complaint of magistrate Ali Javed.

The FIR argued that Imran’s speech was meant to terrorize the top police officials and the judiciary so they could not perform their functions and abstain from pursuing any action against any PTI-related individual(s) if required to do so.

The magistrate argued that Imran’s speech had spread fear and uncertainty among the police, judges and the nation. It stated that country’s peace had been harmed and legal action should be pursued against accused and exemplary punishment to be meted out.

Following the FIR, PTI leaders and supporters gathered at Bani Gala, the residence of the party chairman after unconfirmed reports of his imminent arrest made the rounds.

PTI's Murad Saeed announced on Twitter that arrest orders had been issued for the PTI chairman, as he urged supporters to “get out for the sake of Pakistan”.

Earlier, the PTI chairman accused the government of temporarily blocking YouTube in the country on Sunday evening to prevent people from listening live to a speech he gave at a political rally.

Pakistan's electronic media regulator had announced a ban on the live airing of Imran's speeches.

According to the declaration issued by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), “the PTI chairman is levelling baseless allegations against the institutions so his live speeches are being banned under section 27 of the Pemra ordinance 2002”.

PTI had said shortly after it would go live on "500+ YouTube and Facebook channels".

Imran Khan accuses govt of blocking YouTube during his speech

However, many social media users around Pakistan reported problems in accessing YouTube when Imran was about to address a gathering on Sunday evening in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Imran said in his speech on Sunday that he was being censored for not accepting the current coalition government which had voted him out of power.