Islamabad: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has got the biggest relief from the court in the May 9 violence case. The court on Thursday cancelled Imran Khan’s remand in 12 cases related to the violence on May 9, 2023. He has been in jail for nearly a year. The anti-terrorism court had on July 16 granted Punjab Police a 10-day remand of Khan in 12 cases related to the May 9 violence. Khan’s supporters attacked several important government buildings and military establishments after his arrest in an alleged corruption case in May last year. Punjab Police arrested Khan last week in 12 cases of terrorism, including an attack on a senior military officer in Lahore.
The arrest came soon after Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were acquitted in the Iddat case, ensuring that Khan would remain in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Khan had on July 18 filed a petition in the Lahore High Court challenging his remand in 12 criminal cases of attacks on military installations and other institutions, including the residence of the Lahore Corps Commander, last year. Khan (71), the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, had urged that the anti-terrorism court’s order be declared illegal and annulled and his custody be transferred from police to judicial custody.
Lahore High Court gave verdict
After hearing arguments of the prosecution and Khan’s lawyer, the Lahore High Court rejected the anti-terrorism court’s decision to grant remand and said that he will remain in judicial custody in these cases. More than 200 cases are registered against Khan, in most of which he is on bail. He has been in jail since August last year. Khan’s party says that he is being arrested in more cases at the behest of the powerful military establishment to ensure that he does not come out of jail. Meanwhile, Khan has filed a petition in view of the possibility of being handed over to military custody in the May 9 violence cases. The petition argues that the detainees involved in the incidents should remain under the jurisdiction of civilian courts. This petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court by Khan’s lawyer Uzair Karamat. ‘
Imran Khan accused the police of fabricating a false story
According to the news of the Express Tribune newspaper, the federal government and the Inspectors General (IG) of all four provinces have been made respondents in the case. Khan said that a false story has been fabricated accusing him of instigating protests at the General Headquarters (GHQ). He described the May 9 incident as a “propaganda campaign” and said that those who stole the CCTV footage of the incidents are the real culprits. He criticised the comparison of the May 9 incident with the January 6, 2021 protest at the US Parliament complex and highlighted that a thorough and transparent investigation was conducted in the case, resulting in punishment of only the individuals involved, while (former US President) Donald Trump’s entire Republican Party was not implicated in it.
The army wanted to take Imran and Bushra Bibi into custody
The former prime minister urged the court to keep the custody in the May 9 cases with the civilian courts and issue a stay order to prevent them from being handed over to the military authorities. Khan had on Monday expressed concern that he and his wife Bushra Bibi could be sent to military jail in the May 9 violence cases. “They are going to send me to military jail for the May 9 incidents,” he told the media during the hearing of the Al-Qadir Trust case in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.
Khan lamented the “discriminatory treatment” meted out to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf activists lodged in military jails and claimed there were plans to imprison him under similar charges.