Islamabad: A Pakistani court has suspended the conviction and three-year prison sentence of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, in the Toshakhana corruption case.
A division bench comprising Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri announced the much-anticipated reserved verdict on Tuesday. It also ordered Khan’s release on bail. “The copy of the judgment will be available shortly … all we are saying now is that [Imran’s] request has been approved,” the Chief Justice said, according to Pakistani media house Dawn.
However, uncertainty prevails over if and when Khan will be released from Attock Jail in Punjab, where he is currently housed.
“Punishment suspended Alhamdulillah,” Khan’s spokesman on legal affairs, Naeem Haider Panjotha, wrote in Urdu on X (formerly known as Twitter). His legal team has additionally filed a petition to prevent his arrest in any other case.
Khan, however, cannot participate in elections or holding public office until the higher courts overturn the verdict of the trial court, which had sentenced the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman to three years in prison on August 5 for unlawfully selling state gifts acquired by him and his family during his premiership between 2018 and 2022.
