No objection if court releases Imran Khan, says PM’s aide

The PML-N-led coalition government would not have any objection if the court releases incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan, said Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Thursday.

The development comes as the key opposition party, the PTI, is gearing up for a countrywide protest drive after Eid ul Fitr against what the former ruling party said is a “stolen mandate”, to restore the supremacy of the rule of law and Constitution and the release of political prisoners in the country.

In addition to this, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman last week said that the religio-political party was planning to protest against the federal government’s policies after the Eid, along with the PTI.

During his interaction with journalists today, the PM’s aide said that the PTI founder was in jail due to the cases he was convicted in.

The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August 2023 after he was booked in multiple cases ranging from corruption to terrorism since his ouster from power via the opposition's no-trust motion in April 2022.

Responding to another question regarding the recent in-camera meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, the former security czar said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was asked to strengthen the capability of the police and the CTD amid rising incidents of terrorism.

NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq convened the high-level national meeting on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif amid rising incidents of terrorism in the country in general and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in particular.

NA Opposition Leader Omar Ayub and PTI members skipped the high-level huddle. However, the KP CM was among the attendees of the meeting. He attended the huddle in his capacity as the province's representative.

Major cases keeping Khan in prison

Cipher case

On March 27, 2022, Khan — less than a month before his ouster in April 2022 via a no-trust motion — while addressing a public rally waved a letter before the crowd, claiming that it was a cipher from a foreign nation that had conspired with his political rivals to have PTI government overthrown.

A few days later, he accused the US of conspiring against him and alleged that then assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal. The cipher was reportedly on former Pakistan ambassador to the US Majeed's meeting with Lu.

In August 2023, the Federal Investigation Agency filed a first information report (FIR) against Imran and Qureshi under the Official Secrets Act.

Special court judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain handed down a sentence of 10 years each to Khan and Qureshi.

The IHC, however, annulled the PTI leaders’ conviction in the cipher case containing charges of misusing and misplacing the classified diplomatic document in June, 2024.

Iddat case

The PTI founder and his wife were sentenced to seven years in prison and awarded a fine of Rs500,000 each, in February 2024, after a trial court found their nikah to be fraudulent as Khawar Maneka, Bushra's ex-husband, moved the court against the couple's marriage.

After months of their continuing legal woes, Khan and his got much relief as a district and sessions court in July 2024 accepted their pleas seeking annulment of their conviction in the iddat case.

Stressing Maneka's failure to prove his case against both Khan and Bushra, the court said: "They [Khan and Bushra] are directed to be released forthwith if not required to be detained in any other case."

GHQ attack case

Khan — the founding chairman of PTI — is facing a string of cases, including those related to the May 9 mayhem across the country. Dozens of cases were filed against Khan and the PTI leadership after the violent protests that shocked the country.

The May 9 riots were triggered almost across the country after the deposed prime minister's arrest in the £190 million settlement case. Hundreds of PTI workers and senior leaders were put behind bars for their alleged involvement in violence and attacks on military installations.

During the protests, the miscreants targeted the civil and military installations including — Jinnah House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. The military termed May 9 "Black Day" and decided to try the protesters under the Army Act.

The PTI founder, however blames the “agencies men” for arson and shooting in some areas during the May 9 violent protests.

Toshakhana case-I

The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was accused of misusing his 2018 to 2022 premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than Rs140 million ($635,000).

The gifts included watches given by a royal family, according to government officials, who have alleged previously that Khan's aides sold them in Dubai.

Moreover, seven wristwatches, six made by watchmaker Rolex, and the most expensive a "Master Graff limited edition" valued at Rs85 ($385,000), were also among the gifts.

A reference was forwarded by then National Assembly speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf to the Election Commission asking it to probe the matter.

The electoral body then declared the former premier guilty of corrupt practices and filed a complaint in an Islamabad court.

On July 31, 2024, the accountability court in the federal capital sentenced the former prime minister and his spouse to 14 years in prison with rigorous punishment in the state gifts case. In addition to this, the court disqualified the former prime minister for 10 years while handing over a fine of Rs1.57 billion — Rs787 million each — to the couple.

he ECP has de-notified Khan as the “returned candidate” from NA-45 Kurram-l

£190m Al-Qadir Trust case

After delaying the verdict three times, an accountability court in the federal capital, in January this year, convicted Pakistan the PTI founder and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in the £190 million case.

Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana handed down a 14-year sentence to the PTI founder and a seven-year sentence to his wife, while also slapping heavy fines on them during a proceeding held inside a makeshift court at Adiala jail.

The PTI founder will have to pay a fine of Rs1 million and his wife has been slapped with a fine of Rs0.5 million. In case they fail to pay the fine, the ex-prime minister will serve six months more and Bushra three months.