ISLAMABAD: In a major relief for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, the Supreme Court on Thursday approved his bail pleas in eight cases linked to the May 9 riots.
The three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and comprising Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Muhammad Shafi, delivered the ruling while hearing Khan’s challenge to the Lahore High Court’s earlier rejection of his bail petitions.
The LHC had dismissed the pleas in June 2023, in cases including the attack on Lahore’s Jinnah House. Khan, who has been imprisoned for more than two years, argued before the SC that the FIRs lacked evidence, the allegations were baseless, and he was in NAB custody at the time of the riots, making his involvement impossible.
During the hearing, Prosecutor Zulfiqar Naqvi told the court that three witnesses, WhatsApp messages, and photogrammetric as well as voice matching tests linked Khan to the violence. However, CJP Afridi reminded the prosecution that findings must come from the trial court, not the apex court.
Khan’s counsel Salman Safdar countered that challans in the eight cases were not filed against his client, who was only named in three FIRs. He stressed that Khan had been wrongly implicated in the remaining cases.
Announcing the verbal order, the top court approved bail in all eight cases, noting that any observation on merits could prejudice the trial.
The May 9, 2023 violence erupted after Khan’s arrest in a graft case from the Islamabad High Court. Protesters attacked military and government installations, including the Corps Commander’s House in Lahore and the GHQ in Rawalpindi. While some PTI leaders and workers were later released on bail, many remain behind bars.
Khan, ousted through a no-confidence vote in April 2022, has faced dozens of cases ranging from corruption to terrorism since his removal and has remained in prison since August 2023.
