ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has ruled that Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case was “illegal,” and officials have been instructed to release him “immediately,” which is a major relief for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The Islamabad High Court (IHC), the same court that deemed the PTI chief’s arrest legal, has sent him to the Police Lines Guest House and ordered him to appear before it by tomorrow, setting the precedent that no one will be detained inside the walls of a court.
Following a brief exchange of words between Khan and Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, the order was then issued when the authorities brought the PTI leader before the three-member bench at around 5:40 p.m., an hour after it had been scheduled. The government disapproved of the decision, but PTI, which has been on the rampage for the past two days and whose protests have caused clashes with the police across the nation that have claimed several lives, welcomed it.
The three-member bench — headed by CJP Bandial and comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar — issued the verdict on PTI’s petition challenging Khan’s arrest.
The petition was filed after the capital’s high court declared his arrest legal on May 9 (the day he was arrested), despite expressing dissatisfaction over the manner of the arrest.
“It is good seeing you,” CJP Bandial told Khan when he was presented before the three-member bench, and also asked him to “condemn” the violent protests that took place as a result of the arrest.
In response, the PTI chief, through the media present in the courtroom, forwarded a message to his supporters that they should refrain from damaging public and private property.
“I don’t want any loss in the country nor do I wish for people to get incited. I just want free and fair elections,” the PTI chief told the court, pleading with the court that despite his responding to the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) notices, he was arrested.
In response to the court’s question about whether he knew what was going on in Pakistan, Khan — who became the first prime minister to be ousted from office through a no-confidence vote in April last year — said his mobile phone was taken away and he was unaware about what was happening in the country.
Then the PTI chief requested the CJP to send him home, but the top judge said he was not going to do that and assured him that he would “remain at peace at the Police Lines Guest House”.
“You can stay there, talk, rest, and then present yourself before the Islamabad High Court tomorrow,” CJP told Khan. The CJP then directed authorities to allow Khan to meet as many as 10 people — including his lawyers, friends, and family members.
The CJP then told the deposed prime minister to begin a dialogue with his opponents, which will lead to “peace” in the society. “This will be a good move as you have been entrusted with the people’s rights.”
The chief justice noted that Khan should start talks with his political opponents even though he does not like them, adding that there is a need to do this as the narratives on both political ends have become “extreme”.
“230 million are awaiting for their leader to move the boat forward,” he said, also noting that the political divide has become so extreme that his friend informed him that during the ongoing protests, the next house that could be targeted could be of the CJP.
The CJP told Khan that numerous cases have been lodged against him, to which, the PTI chief that “there aren’t many”.
CJP Bandial, without naming anyone, also told the PTI chief that “they have registered many cases against you […] you know who I am talking about”.
Again, without naming the individual or group, the CJP said: “Even they have rendered many sacrifices.”
In the backdrop of the chaos, Khan then told the bench that a reaction was bound to happen in response to the treatment meted out to him. At this, Justice Minallah asked him not to utter such words and be cautious about what he says in the presence of the media.
