Imran Khan gets bail, day after Pak Supreme Court called arrest "illegal"

Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV

New Delhi, May 12, 2023: Pakistan former prime minister Imran Khan was granted two weeks of bail by Islamabad High Court on Friday in a corruption case, a day after the Supreme Court called his arrest "invalid and unlawful".

 

The Islamabad High Court upheld Mr Khan’s arrest but a three-member Supreme Court bench on Thursday had declared his detention "illegal" and ordered his immediate release.

The Friday hearing was delayed for nearly two hours due to security reasons. The cricketer-turned-politician arrived in a security convoy at Islamabad High Court, where hundreds of police and paramilitary troops were deployed.

However, the government has vowed to re-arrest Mr Khan should he be released, setting the stage for more unrest.

Mr Khan, who was ousted as Prime Minister last April, was arrested from outside the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday in the Al-Qadir Trust case after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the country’s top anti-corruption body, issued an arrest warrant against him.

The arrest by paramilitary Rangers triggered deadly clashes across the country, prompting the deployment of the Army. At least nine people died in the unrest, police and hospitals said.

Mr Khan as accused senior military and government officials of plotting a November assassination attempt that saw him shot in the leg during a rally.

Meanwhile, he has become tangled in a slew of legal cases -- a frequent hazard for opposition figures in Pakistan.