Imran Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former prime minister, along with his wife, Bushra Bibi, were arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Saturday. This arrest came just hours after the couple was acquitted in the Iddat case, as confirmed by sources.
A team from NAB, led by Deputy Director Mohsin Haroon, arrived at Adiala Jail to apprehend the former prime minister and his wife under a new reference. The NAB sources disclosed that the arrest was in connection with a new Toshakhana reference. It is alleged that during Imran Khan’s tenure as prime minister, he and his wife obtained gifts from the gift repository at lower prices and then sold them at higher rates.
Upon completion of the necessary legal formalities, the NAB team formally arrested Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi. Furthermore, another NAB team investigating cases registered in Lahore on May 9 also arrived at Adiala Jail, hinting at potential further arrests of the PTI founder in those cases.
Concurrently, Imran Khan has challenged the rejection of interim bails in three cases in the high court. Through his lawyer, Barrister Salman Safdar, Imran Khan contended that as a former prime minister, the Anti-Terrorism Court’s dismissal of his bails in three cases pertaining to the May 9 riots contradicts the factual circumstances. The petitions seek the high court’s intervention to overturn the trial court’s decision and grant interim bails to the PTI founder.
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Moreover, earlier in the day, the District and Sessions Court in Islamabad, presided over by Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka, had reserved its decision on the appeals against the sentences of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi in the iddat marriage case. The short order issued by the court stated that Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi should be immediately released unless they were wanted in other cases.
The initial decision to arrest and sentence Imran and Bushra Bibi in the Iddat Nikkah case, just days before the February 8 general elections, had garnered condemnation from civil rights activists and legal experts. The couple had promptly filed an appeal against their convictions, with several PTI activists and supporters gathering outside the court premises to stage rallies. The atmosphere reportedly shifted to celebration as soon as the verdict was announced, showing support for the acquitted PTI founding leader and his wife.