Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday declared former prime minister Imran Khan's arrest "illegal" after hearing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) petition challenging the arrest of the party chief. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, was hearing the case, Geo News reported. Terming his arrest ‘illegal’, the Supreme Court ordered his immediate release. The top court also observed that whatever the Islamabad High Court decides, Imran will have to abide by it, Dawn reported.
During the hearing, Imran’s lawyer argued that his arrest was made without an investigation officer and accused National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of committing contempt of court. The Chief Justice of Pakistan stressed the importance of courts being accessible to everyone and the individuals should feel safe to approach them.
As per the Dawn report, Imran Khan’s lawyer said the arrest warrant dated May 1 was not in accordance with the law and questioned why NAB did not try to arrest him for eight days. The Advocate General stated that NAB is an independent institution and had requested Rangers to be present at the scene but not carry out the arrest.
Justice Minallah, expressing concern about NAB’s actions, accused them of “political engineering” and “contributing to the country’s destruction”.
Notably, the PTI had filed a petition in the country's Supreme Court a day earlier challenging the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) decision calling party chief Imran Khan’s arrest by the NAB “legal”.
Initially, the plea was returned to the PTI as the registrar's office attached objections to the plea, as per a Geo News report. The registrar's office stated that the PTI chief had not approached the relevant forum and that he could file an intra-court appeal.
It also mentioned that the petition did not have the signatures of the PTI chief.
Later on Wednesday, Imran Khan's party addressed the objections of the registrar's office and it was accepted for a hearing.
Following Khan’s dramatic arrest on Tuesday inside the IHC, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi called an emergency meeting of the seven-member committee to review the situation and devise a comprehensive strategy to secure the safe and early release of Imran Khan. The senior PTI leader then announced the party’s plan to move the apex court.
Earlier, an anti-corruption court in Pakistan granted National Accountability Bureau (NAB) eight-day remand of former prime minister Imran Khan a day after he was arrested in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case in which he is accused of looting Rs 50 billion of the national treasury.
Imran Khan, who travelled from Lahore to the federal capital Islamabad, was undergoing a biometric process at the Islamabad High Court when the paramilitary Rangers broke open the glass window and arrested him after beating lawyers and Khan’s security staff.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country’s army warned protestors and the supporters of former premier Imran Khan after violence gripped the country following the PTI Chairman’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case. Sharif called the party workers’ actions “unforgivable crimes” while the Pakistan Army threatened action against demonstrators who attacked their properties and installations while raising “anti-army slogans”.