Pak court sets aside physical remand of Imran Khan in connection with 12 cases linked to May 9 riots

A Pakistani court Thursday set aside the physical remand of Imran Khan in connection with 12 cases linked to last year's May 9 riots, in a major relief to the jailed former prime minister who has been imprisoned for almost a year.

On July 16, an anti-terrorism court granted Punjab police Khan's 10-day physical remand in a dozen cases linked to the May 9 riots. Supporters of Khan attacked several important government buildings and army installations following his arrest in an alleged corruption case in May last year.

The Punjab police last week arrested Khan in 12 terrorism cases, including an attack on a senior army officer in Lahore, soon after he and his wife Bushra Bibi were acquitted in the Iddat case, making sure the cricketer-turned-politician remains in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

On July 18, Khan approached the Lahore High Court challenging his physical remand in 12 criminal cases of last year’s violent attacks on military facilities and other properties, including the Lahore corps commander’s residence.

Khan, the 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder, had argued that the anti-terrorism court order be declared illegal and set aside, and that his custody be transferred from the police to judicial custody.

"The Lahore High Court's two-member bench grilled the Punjab prosecutor general for seeking physical remand of Imran Khan for more days to conduct polygraph, voice matching and other tests. As the suspect was already in custody why the police need his physical remand for the purpose as they could have done it much earlier in jail even without a physical remand," a court official told PTI after the hearing.

The two-member bench comprising Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh and Justice Anwarul Haq Pannu further noted that what kind of evidence the probing team want to get from the suspect (Khan).

The court asked the Punjab prosecutor general to read out the transcript of Khan under which police have registered multiple cases against for inciting the public to attack the state and military installations.

"Physical remand is a serious matter. It is not acceptable if you say a girl is not a girl but a boy," Justice Pannu remarked and further noted "judges are being given more threats these days." "The court official further said the LHC observed that if Imran Khan was not leading the violent protest no case could be instituted against him. On this the prosecutor general argued that Khan incited the public," the court official said.

After hearing the arguments of the prosecutor general and Khan's counsel, the LHC set aside the anti-terrorism court's decision to grant his physical remand noting that he will remain in judicial custody in these cases.

Khan is facing over 200 cases mostly of which he is on bail. He has been in jail since August last year.

The PTI believes he is being arrested in more cases on the behest of the powerful military establishment to make sure that he does not come out of jail.

Separately, Khan filed a petition against his potential handover to military custody in connection with the May 9 riot cases, arguing that detainees involved in the events should remain under the jurisdiction of civilian courts.

The petition was submitted by Khan's lawyer, Uzair Karamat, to the Lahore High Court. The federal government and the Inspector Generals (IGs) of all four provinces have been made respondents in the case, the Express Tribune newspaper reported.

Khan said that a false narrative had been constructed, accusing him of inciting protests at the General Headquarters (GHQ).

He described the May 9 incident as a "false flag operation," asserting that those who stole the CCTV footage of the events were the true culprits. He criticised the comparison of the May 9 incident to the US Capitol Hill protests on January 6, 2021, highlighting that a thorough and transparent investigation was conducted in the case, leading to the punishment of only the involved individuals, without implicating the entire Republican Party of Doland Trump.

The former premier urged the court to order that custody in the May 9 cases remain with civilian courts and to issue a stay order preventing his handover to military authorities.

On Monday, the cricketer-turned-politician expressed concerns that he and his wife, Bushra Bibi, might be sent to a military jail in connection with the May 9 riot cases.

“They plan to send me to a military jail for the May 9 incidents,” he said while speaking to the media during a hearing of the Al-Qadir Trust case in the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi.

He had lamented the biased treatment meted out to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers detained in military jails, suggesting a plan to also incarcerate him under similar charges.

Khan was booked on the charges of abetment in attacks on Lahore Corps Commander House known as Jinnah House, Askari Tower, and Shadman police station on May 9, 2023.

He clarified that he had called for peaceful protests outside the army’s General Headquarters (GHQ) if arrested but never authorised any violent actions. Khan accused Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of stealing CCTV footage related to the May 9 events.