Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was granted bail in connection with a graft case on May 15. Still, he won't be released yet as the PTI chief is serving multiple prison sentences in connection with other cases, his party spokesman and officials said.
Khan, lodged at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since August last year, has been asked to submit a surety bond of Rs 1 million in order to secure bail.
A two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, had reserved the verdict on May 14 after the completion of arguments.
Over 150 other lawsuits were filed against Khan since he was ousted in a no-confidence vote passed in 2022. Last year, the country witnessed violent demonstrations following his arrest and the current government has clamped down heavily on his supporters and party since.
The latest bail decision comes two months after Imran Khan was indicted for accepting a land parcel from business tycoon Malik Riaz in return for favours. Khan, in return, had reportedly granted Riaz access to 190 million British pounds ($240 million) in laundered money, that the British government repatriated to Pakistan in 2019, to pay heavy fines. The businessman was to use the amount to partly settle a fine of about Rs 450 billion imposed by the Supreme Court a few years ago.
In December last year, the National Accountability Bureau initiated an investigation against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, and others in a case of alleged acquisition of hundreds of canals of land under the name of Al Qadir University Trust, which resulted in a reported loss of 190 million pounds to the exchequer.
Notably, both the jailed former Pakistan prime minister and his wife Bushra Bibi are accused in this case.
Zulfiqar Bukhari, the chief spokesperson of the PTI party hailed the verdict saying Khan could not be freed because his bail applications "in some other bogus cases are still pending".
"Despite being granted bail in the Al-Qadir case, Imran Khan will continue to remain imprisoned given that his bail or suspension of sentence in the Cipher and iddat cases are yet to happen," his party said in a statement.
The former cricketer has repeatedly denied all charges against him and claimed that his ouster was a plot by rivals.
(With agency inputs)
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