A PAKISTANI anti-terrorism court on Saturday granted pre-arrest bail to ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan till April 4 in three terrorism cases registered against him by the Lahore police. Khan, 70, appeared before the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) here and was accompanied by scores of his supporters.

Khan told ATC judge Ejaz Ahmad Buttar that he wants to join the investigation in three terrorism cases registered against him by Lahore’s Racecourse police. “He said although these cases are fake, he has to join the investigation and for that purpose, he is applying for a pre-arrest bail,” a court official told PTI after the hearing.

“While granting him pre-arrest bail till April 4, the judge directed Mr Khan to appear in every hearing of the court. He also asked Mr Khan not to bring a large number of his supporters to the court,” the official said. “If such a large number of people accompanied you in the court next time, I will not hear the case,” the judge told Khan.

The Lahore police had registered these three cases against Khan in connection to the clashes between PTI workers and police during an operation to arrest Khan in the Toshakhana gifts case. The former premier is facing over 140 cases under terrorism, murder, attempted murder and blasphemy.