Imran Khan’s detention was deemed “illegal”and order release him immediately by the SC.

ISLAMABAD – Supreme Court on Thursday declared PTI chief Imran Khan’s arerst in the Al-Qadir Trust case “illegal” after the police had presented Mr Khan in the court amid tight security after CJP Umar Ata Bandial had ordered the NAB to present Mr Khan within an hour.

DIG Operations Shehzad Bukhari reached outside the court and reviewed the security measures in place.

Mr Khan’s car entered the SC grounds via the Judges’ gate, claimed to be occurring for the first time, since the gate is only used by SC judges to access the court.

Police, FC, and Rangers have been deployed outside the Islamabad’s Red Zone, where the SC is situated, to ensure fool-proof security.

CJP Bandial had previously said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had violated court sanctity by detaining Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). In response to Imran Khan’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf petitioned the Supreme Court.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, is hearing the case while PTI lawyers are present in court. Imran Khan’s detention was deemed “lawful” by the Islamabad High Court (IHC), although the PTI has appealed this decision. The PTI argued that the arrest of Imran Khan was illegal and sought his immediate release.

Thursday’s hearing

PTI attorney Hamid Khan informed the bench at the beginning of the hearing that the former premier had gone to the Islamabad High Court for biometric verification in order to file a petition for his pre-arrest bail. He claimed Imran Khan was taken into custody as he was conducting the biometric procedure. He said that the former premier was also treated poorly during the incident, asking “Why he was arrested when he was going to surrender to the court.”

According to the high court’s records, Mr. Khan had filed a petition, but its hearing date hadn’t yet been scheduled, CJP Bandial noted. At which, the lawyer said biometric verification was compulsory for filing the petition.

Later, the chief justice remarked that the NAB had disgraced the judiciary by making the arrest on the premises of the high court.

At one point, Justice Athar Minallah said Mr Khan should not have been arrested when he was going to surrender. “It was better if NAB would have got permission from high court’s registrar to arrest him”.

When Justice Minallah asked the PTI counsel what he sought from the court, Hamid Khan requested the bench to issue an order for the release of Imran Khan.

While stressing the respect of courts, the CJP recalled that once NAB had arrested a suspect from the apex court’s parking and it was reversed with a surety from the anti-graft watchdog that it would not make any arrest on court premises.

After hearing the arguments, the chief justice ordered the authorities to present the former premier before the court within one hour.

IHC Verdict

Tuesday night, the IHC deemed Imran Khan’s arrest to be “legal.” IHC Chief Justice Amir Farooq gave the reserved decision by recognising the point of view of the NAB. It had previously delayed judgement on whether the arrest, which had taken place hours earlier, was valid or not.

The CJ rushed into action quickly after a squad of Rangers brought Imran Khan into custody on the grounds of court where the PTI head had arrived in two matters.

Earlier, a team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), with the help of Rangers, took Imran Khan into custody, prompting the IHC to take notice. The NAB expressed a view that Imran Khan did not react to the letters provided to him and his arrest was ‘totally in compliance with law and as per NAB regulation’.

Imran’s arrest warrant was signed by NAB Chairman retired Lt-Gen Nazir Ahmed. It said that Section 9(a) of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 charged the PTI head of corruption and corrupt practises.