By On Thursday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi filed a petition with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) challenging their recent arrest in a new Toshakhana reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The legal troubles for the former Prime Minister and his spouse continue despite their recent acquittal in the iddat case, also known as the un-Islamic nikah case, which had been their final obstacle to release from jail. Their new arrest pertains to allegations involving the misuse of power to acquire gifts from the Toshakhana.
In their petition, Khan and Bushra have named the NAB chairman, director general, and other officials as respondents, arguing that their arrest violated legal and constitutional rights. The petition claims that the couple was “illegally” remanded into NAB’s custody, impacting their fundamental rights to liberty and pre-arrest protections.
On July 13, Khan and Bushra were apprehended by a NAB team led by Deputy Director Mohsin Haroon at Adiala Jail. This arrest followed Bushra’s release from the jail gate after her acquittal in the iddat case.
An accountability court subsequently granted an eight-day physical remand for both Khan and Bushra in the new graft reference.
Khan has been imprisoned since August last year following a conviction in the Toshakhana case, which was compounded by additional sentences related to other cases in the run-up to the February 8 elections. Although he has secured bail in several cases related to the May 9 riots across Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Faisalabad, an anti-terrorism court recently canceled his bail in 12 cases linked to violence against military and state installations that erupted after his May 2023 arrest.
In June, the IHC overturned Khan’s conviction for leaking state secrets in the cipher case, where he had been sentenced to 10 years for publicizing a classified cable from Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington.
Khan also received two separate jail sentences—one of 14 years and another of three years—related to the illegal acquisition and sale of state gifts. Although high courts have suspended these sentences pending appeal, the convictions remain in effect.
