Pakistan Court Extends Bar On Imran Khan’s Arrest

On Wednesday, a top Pakistani court in Karachi extended its ruling prohibiting the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan in any case brought against him after May 9, 2023.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) decision came after the government’s lawyer asked for extra time to present information concerning the cases filed against the 70-year-old Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief.

Khan was not in the court. The court was considering the PTI’s request for information on all the cases filed against Khan.

According to Khan’s party, the PTI chief has been charged in over 100 cases across the country.

The court granted the government lawyer’s plea and deferred the hearing to May 31.

The IHC granted Khan protective bail in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case for two weeks on Friday and prevented police from detaining the former Pakistan prime minister in any case registered anywhere in the country until May 15.

The court decision came a day after the Supreme Court ruled that Khan’s dramatic arrest from the IHC premises on May 9 was invalid and unlawful.

Khan returned to his Lahore house triumphant On Saturday after locking himself in the IHC premises for hours in fear of re-arrest despite being granted bail on Friday.

The IHC on Wednesday also ordered the release of PTI leaders Maleeka Bokhari and Ali Muhammad Khan, ruling that their detention was unlawful.

Following the violent protests throughout the country following Khan’s incarceration, the PTI leaders were arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, of 1960.

The arrest of Khan by the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers on the premises of the IHC on May 9 sparked outrage in Pakistan.

For the first time in Pakistan’s history, demonstrators invaded the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and set fire to a corps commander’s house in Lahore.

Police say ten people were killed in the confrontations, whereas Khan’s party claims 40 people were killed in security force firing.

On Monday the top military brass vowed to bring the arsonists, who assaulted the civil and military installations, to justice through trial under Pakistani statutes such as the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets Act.

Khan was deposed in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he said was part of a US-led conspiracy to destabilize him due to his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan.

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