Imran Khan Gets Relief As Pakistan Supreme Court Declares His Arrest Illegal

The Pakistan Supreme Court (SC) three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, has declared the arrest of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan as illegal.

The order was given by a bench comprising CJP Bandial, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, and Justice Athar Minallah.

Earlier in the afternoon, the Supreme Court ordered Pakistani authorities to produce Khan in court within an hour. "The court will issue an appropriate order today" and "is very serious," said the CJP, issuing the order to National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

According to a report by the Express Tribune, Justice Athar Minallah said, that "if the foundation [of the arrest] was illegal then a structure cannot be allowed to be built on it" adding that, "the time had come to set an example for the future".

"The manner in which the arrest was conducted cannot be tolerated," Justice Minallah said and according to Tribune, will set a wrong precedent.

Khan was arrested by the Pakistani Rangers from the Islamabad High Court, which has led to widespread violence in the country. 

Khan is accused by the NAB, the country’s anti-corruption watchdog, of receiving billions of rupees from a real estate firm to legalise laundered money that the UK returned to Pakistan during the tenure of his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s government.