Pak probe agency accuses Imran of misusing interim bail

Pakistans Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday accused PTI Chairman Imran Khan of “misusing” his interim bail to skip court hearings as it petitioned a banking court hearing his prohibited funding case to form a medical board to examine the former Prime Minister, media reports said. The FIA had in October 2022 booked Khan and other PTI leaders in connection with their party allegedly receiving prohibited funding, Dawn reported. The case was filed by the state through FIA’s Corporate Banking Circle in Islamabad. Later, a special court in Islamabad had granted him an interim bail, in which he kept getting an extension on medical grounds, after he received bullet wounds in an assassination bid at a rally in Wazirabad on Nov 3 last year, Dawn reported. In a fresh application filed with Islamabad’s banking court today, the FIA said a bail application filed by Imran was pending before the court. “After getting an interim bail, the accused is misusing the concession and not appearing before this honourable court and in fact, he is not cooperating with the process of law and till date, neither he joined the investigation nor he is appearing before the court on one pretext or the other,” the agency said, Dawn reported. It also said that a “stereotype medical certificate” was being presented from a cancer hospital, “although the petitioner alleges he has issues related to orthopedic”. The FIA pointed out that the medical report presented by Khan was issued by a hospital which was owned by him, “thus the said reports are otherwise not credible”, Dawn reported. The agency said, “The principles of fair play and justice requires that the accused is to be examined by the board of expert doctors on the subject from PIMS or polyclinic and if their reports can be entertained.”