Pakistan’s top court Thursday granted bail to the country’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan in multiple cases related to attacks on military installations in May 2023, his lawyer said, but he remains behind bars over past corruption conviction.
A three-member bench of Pakistan’s Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi granted Khan’s appeal against a Lahore High Court verdict, which rejected his bail application in eight cases related to the 2023 violence.
The court ordered 72-year-old Khan’s release, if he is not wanted in any other case. Khan, however, will remain in jail as he has been convicted in a corruption case.
The cricketer-turned-politician is facing a barrage of cases ranging from corruption to terrorism, which he dubs a “sham.”
Several leaders and lawmakers from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI), including opposition leaders in both houses of the parliament, have recently been convicted in similar cases.
Several military installations, including the army headquarters, commonly known as the General Headquarters, in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, were stormed by protesters after Khan was briefly arrested in a corruption case in May 2023.
While the PTI and its supporters are eager to see Imran Khan out of the jail, the other side does not see it happening in the near future.
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As per the announced policy of the superior judiciary, Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s appeals against their conviction in Al-Qadir trust case are months away from hearing in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The IHC had already made it public that these appeals would be fixed for hearing next year. The National Judicial Policy Making Committee’s direction about the priority to be given to different nature of appeals, also makes Imran Khan’s case less important for early hearing.
The details already shared with the media shows that 279 criminal appeals are presently pending before the IHC. These include 63 appeals against death sentence; 73 appeals involving life imprisonment; 88 appeals, including those of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, with sentence seven years and above; and 55 appeals of convicts who were jailed for up to seven years.
2023 Pakistan protests
The 2023 Pakistan protests occurred after the Punjab Police attempted to arrest the former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, nearly one year after his removal from office.
This came after Khan failed to appear before a court in relation to the Toshakhana case and after threatening a judge, leading to a non-bailable arrest warrant being issued.
On May 9, 2023, Khan was arrested — immediately triggering widespread, violent unrest across Pakistan, with tens of thousands of Khan’s supporters participating in riots, demonstrations, vandalism, and clashes with police officers and soldiers.
On 10 May, 2023, Section 144 was imposed across the country and military deployment was ordered in an attempt to quell the rising death toll. Internet access was blocked indefinitely, with nearly 125 million people being affected by the government’s decision to suspend mobile broadband and block access to social media apps.
Riots subsided by May 12, with Khan being released on bail following a Supreme Court ruling that deemed his arrest unlawful.
