PSO MD appointment case: Ex-PM Abbasi granted protective bail

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – An Islamabad High Court (IHC) bench on Tuesday granted protective bail to former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in illegal appointments case of the managing director of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO). The bench also approved protective bail of former petroleum secretary Arshad Mirza in the same case. A two-member bench headed by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard their bail applications. They have been granted the bail for three weeks. The ex-premier’s lawyer stated before the bench that an accountability court in Karachi has issued non-bailable warrants for his client’s arrest, adding he could not travel to Karachi due to the lockdown within the stipulated time period. Therefore, he requested the bench to grant him protective bail so that he can travel to Karachi to attend the trial court’s hearing. Addressing to the journalists, the former premier said that the government has no active policy on the novel coronavirus pandemic. “When the infection and death rate is being increased how the lockdown can be soften,” he questioned.