Case Update Status

Lahore High Court (LHC) on May 23 accepted journalist Imran Riaz Khan’s plea for protective bail.

Summary of Case

"The Lahore High Court (LHC) on May 23 accepted journalist Imran Riaz Khan’s plea for protective bail after multiple sedition cases were registered against him. Several cases have been lodged against senior journalist for allegedly spreading hate against army and state institutions. Khan filed two petitions with the LHC through his lawyer Mian Ali Ashfaq. He also posted on his Twitter account that he had been granted bail. Justice Tariq Nadeem and Justice Chaudhry Abdul Aziz separately heard the petitions. The former granted the journalist protective bail of four days while the latter granted it till May 31. In the petitions, the journalist said that he was currently residing in Lahore. “The petitioner is apprehending his arrest while approaching the local District and Sessions Court of Thatha/Nawabshah for the purpose of surrendering before the court of law and seeking bail before arrest to defend the bogus, baseless allegation leveled against the petitioner and to join the investigation to prove his innocence during the course of investigation,” they stated. They said that Khan had approached the LHC for the grant of pre-arrest protective bail for “a reasonable time prior to reaching in Thatta/Nawabshah and to save himself from any irreparable loss in terms of his arrest despite that the case is absolutely false […].” They added that Khan was innocent and had committed no offence. Speaking to the media outside the LHC, the journalist stated that under the law, only a single FIR can be registered against a single offence. “Register one case, I will face it. Add as many sections as you want to add to it,” he said. Khan noted that the motive behind registering cases at different police stations across the country was merely to ensure that the accused person is running around in circles. "

Category of Incident

Case register

ICCS Status

ICCS Divisions: 0202 -Acts against liberty

ICCS Group: 02022-Deprivation of liberty

ICCS Class: 020222-Illegal restraint

ICCS Crime: Acts against liberty

Reported By

Dawn

Date of incident

22

Month

May

Year

2022

Name of affected person

Imran Riaz Khan

Other affected persons

No other person affected

Name of affected organization

Express News

Other affected organizations

No other organization affected

Action by

Ashiq Ali

City

Dhabeji

Province

Sindh

Designation

Anchor Person

Professional category

Journalist

Age of victim

46

Marital Status

Compensation Details

Amount of compensation announced by government: No compensation announced

Date of compensation announcement by government: No compensation announced

Date of compensation paid by government: No compensation announced

Amount of compensation announced by others: No compensation announced

Date of compensation announced by others: No compensation announced

Date compensation paid by others: No compensation announced

FIR Details

Was FIR registered ?: Yes

Date of FIR:

FIR Details: FIR Number: 46/22 Under Sections 131 (incitement to mutiny), 153 (provoking to cause riot), 452 (trespassing) and 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Police station of FIR: Thatta’s Dhabeji police station

Name of complainant: Ashiq Ali

Name of accused in FIR: Journalist Imran Riaz Khan

Court Details

Was case investigated ?: Yes

Court where case was presented: Lahore High Court

Name of prosecuting lawyer: Not available

Date of first court hearing:

Date of last court hearing:

Status of court case: Not available

Journalist Union Status

PFUJ

Not applicable

APNS

CPNE

PBA

Media Source Status

Media reports:

Condemn Status

Colleague of victim

Not applicable

Employer organization

Condemned

Press Club Status

Press club 1: Not applicable

Press club 2:

Press club 3: