By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s highest court ruled on Thursday that the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan from the premises of the Islamabad High Court earlier this week was illegal, ordering his immediate release.
Khan was arrested on Tuesday afternoon by paramilitary Rangers on the orders of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the country’s anti-graft body, which is currently investigating Khan and his wife in a case involving a land bribe.
Following Khan’s arrest, hundreds of protesters took to the streets, causing disruptions by blocking highways and major entry and exit routes to major cities. The protests escalated into acts of violence, with state buildings, police vehicles, and public property being attacked and set ablaze, and even army installations being rampaged through.
The unrest resulted in nearly 2,000 arrests and at least eight fatalities, prompting the government to deploy the army to restore order.
On Wednesday, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) challenged his arrest in the Supreme Court.
A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, ruled on Thursday that the arrest was “illegal” and instructed Khan to refer back to the Islamabad High Court.
“The Supreme Court reversed all legal proceedings against Imran Khan… he has been asked to present himself in the Islamabad High Court on Friday morning,” Khan’s lawyer Babar Awan told reporters.
Although Khan has been released from custody, he will be under the protection of security forces at a secure location in Islamabad and is expected to appear before the Islamabad High Court on Friday.
Awan said the court has declared Khan to be under its custody, rather than that of the anti-graft agency. Khan will spend the night in the same police guest house as before, with permission to meet up to 10 individuals from his circle of friends and family.
Local television footage captured Khan, dressed in a traditional blue shalwar kameez, a black waistcoat, and dark glasses, walking towards the Supreme Court on Thursday.
During his court appearance, Khan claimed to have been manhandled and struck with a stick at the time of his arrest.
Chief Justice Bandial expressed discontent during the hearing before Khan’s arrival, emphasizing that his arrest from inside the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday had “violated the sanctity” of the judiciary.
He questioned the disregard for the court’s honor when Khan was arrested and when a group of 90 people entered the court premises.
The chief justice said no one should feel unsafe when visiting a court in the future, stating, “No one can be arrested from the high court, Supreme Court, or the accountability court… Imran Khan’s arrest has violated judicial sanctity.”
The PTI welcomed the court’s decision and announced that the party would “decide the next political course of action after consultation.”
In a statement, the PTI said its belief in peaceful political struggle and expressed hope that “all institutions will strictly follow the orders of the Supreme Court and take care of the security of Chairman Imran Khan.”
Meanwhile, the police have filed new terrorism charges against Khan and top PTI leaders, accusing them of inciting violence.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif, a senior leader of the PMLN party of PM Shehbaz Sharif, lashed out at the chief justice on Twitter, saying he was “pouring fuel on the fire in the country.”
“You should leave the post of chief justice and join Tehreek-e-Insaf,” Maryam said.
The top court’s decision to release Khan is likely to deepen the rift between the coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country’s higher judiciary. The two sides have been at odds since the Supreme Court took up cases of delays in announcing elections in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
The court has ruled that the polls should be held in both provinces within 90 days of the dissolution of their assemblies, as per the constitution, while the Sharif government insists all elections in the country should be held on the same date in October when general elections are scheduled.
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