Protective bail granted to accused in Kh Sharif case

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday granted protective bail to former principal secretary to chief minister Punjab, Tauqeer Shah, and personal staff officer Talha BurKi, involved in former LHC Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif's alleged murder conspiracy, till August 30.

The court directed the accused to submit a surety bond of Rs 50,000 each to avail the bail. The court also directed the accused to approach the court concerned.

Justice Ali Baqar Najfi passed the orders on a bail application filed by the accused.

Earlier, the petitioner's counsel Khawaja Harris submitted before the court that the accused did not have any connection with the conspiracy but the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had registered a bogus case against them and others.

The counsel pleaded the court to grant protective bail to the accused.

After hearing the arguments, the court granted protective bail till August 30 and directed the accused to approach the court concerned.

The accused were alleged to hatch a conspiracy to produce a false and fabricated intelligence report in a bid to create differences among the federal government, the provincial government and judiciary.

Meanwhile, Justice Muhammad Anwaarul Haq adjourned the hearing of a petition filed by the both accused seeking directions to delete their names from the FIR registered in Khawaja Sharif's alleged murder conspiracy case, till August 30.

The court directed to place the report of the judicial commission constituted to probe the matter along the FIR on record.