Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was arrested in a dramatic fashion on May 9, was granted a two-week bail by the Islamabad High Court on Friday in a corruption case.
A short while later, the court said he could not be arrested for the time being in certain pending cases against him.
The multiple rulings came as the government and legions of Imran Khan’s supporters were on edge after days of violent confrontations sparked by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief’s arrest.
The government has vowed it will find a way to take Imran Khan back into custody, a move that would likely cause a resurgence of violence in Pakistan.
Here’s what panned out in the Islamabad High Court today:
After a brief hearing, a special bench of the Islamabad High Court granted protective bail to Imran Khan for two weeks in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
The court also ordered that the former Pakistan prime minister should not be arrested till May 17 in any case registered in Islamabad after May 9. It also ordered the authorities to provide ‘foolproof security’ to Imran Khan.
However, Imran Khan remained in the court after the decision as his lawyers petitioned the judges for similar protection in a number of other cases, trying to close off a legal avenue for the government to arrest him again.
The Islamabad High Court then ordered that Imran Khan cannot be arrested in any case registered against him across Pakistan till Monday, May 15.
Imran Khan was removed as prime minister last year by a no-confidence vote in Parliament and now leads the opposition. He faces more than 100 legal cases, most involving allegations that he incited violence and threatened police and government officials.
He also faces at least three graft cases, including accusations from the National Accountability Bureau that he accepted millions of dollars worth of property in exchange for providing benefits to a real estate tycoon. A new terrorism charge was filed against him for allegedly inciting his followers to violence after his arrest.
Imran Khan will leave for his residence in Bani Gala, Islamabad after receiving the written order from the court.