Islamabad:

The Pakistani authorities are set to probe jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan and at least three senior leaders of his party over a controversial tweet accompanied by a video made from his account about the separation of East Pakistan in 1971.

Imran Khan’s account, managed by his social media team due to his incarceration, on May 26 shared a video with a quote attributed to him on X, stating: “Every Pakistani should study the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report and get to know who was the true traitor, General Yahya Khan or Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.” The Hamoodur Rahman Commission probed the fall of East Pakistan and compiled a report which had not been officially released.

The video accompanying the tweet argued that the former military dictator Yahya Khan was responsible for the country’s breakup, referring to alleged atrocities committed by the Pakistani military during the civil war.

It also included images of the current civilian and military leadership, alleging they stole the party’s mandate in the general elections.

The post resulted in a heated debate, particularly from government ministers who accused the Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf of trying to fuel a narrative of hatred against the army by comparing Imran Khan to Sheikh Mujib.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) already issued a notice to Imran Khan over the issue. An FIA team also visited the Adiala Jail on Thursday to interrogate Imran Khan but he refused to meet the team while saying that he would only respond in the presence of his lawyers.

Sources said that it also summoned PTI leaders Omar Ayub Khan, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, and Raoof Hasan for questioning on Tuesday.

The main charge is that the video aimed to incite public agitation against the state and its institutions, potentially spreading fear and unrest among the populace.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A Pakistani court has rejected a petition seeking the disqualification of former prime minister Imran Khan for concealing his alleged daughter Tyrian White while submitting his nomination papers for the 2018 general elections.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) took up the petition on May 21 after a gap of almost a year, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The petition alleged that the 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party founder had not disclosed his alleged daughter — Tyrian White — in his nomination papers for contesting the 2018 general elections.

Mr. Khan’s PTI party won the 2018 general elections, and the former cricketer-turned-politician served as the prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to April 2022.

The IHC rejected the petition after noting that a three-judge bench had previously dismissed it, the report said.

Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri read the opinion of the two judges given last year and ruled that the case has already been dismissed.

On May 10, 2023, a three-member bench of the court hearing the case was dissolved by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq after the opinion of two of the three judges — supporting the petition’s dismissal — was uploaded on the court’s website.

The majority judgement was deleted from the website minutes after it was uploaded, and the IHC chief justice dissolved the bench.

Mr. Khan’s party welcomed the judgement, saying that the two judges had already decided the case, but the IHC chief justice “tried to keep it alive on technicalities”.

Senior lawyers questioned the constitution of a fresh bench when the case had been decided earlier, according to the report.

The petition said that even though Khan had three children, he had mentioned only two in the papers and concealed the existence of his third child.

It also alleged that Khan did not marry his alleged girlfriend Sita White, mother of Tyrian, because her father told Khan that he would not get a “penny” from his wealth if he married Sita.

The PTI founder initially joined the proceedings but later backtracked after he was asked to undergo a blood test, it added.

Incarcerated former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on May 16 appeared before the Supreme Court via a video link in a case about changes in the anti-corruption laws but did not get to speak as a petitioner in the matter.

However, a leaked image of the 71-year-old founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s image showing him attending the court hearing has prompted the Supreme Court administration to initiate a probe to find out the source for the leak, The News International reported citing sources.

Khan appearing via the video link was possible after Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Tuesday while hearing an appeal by the government against annulment of certain changes in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws by the previous government had ordered the authorities to present Khan virtually for his statement.

Khan had challenged the tweaks in the NAB laws and the top court in September last year had accepted his plea which reopened dozens of cases of alleged corruption against some leading politicians, including Khan’s arch rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif.

A five-member Supreme Court larger bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi heard the case.

During the hearing, senior counsel Khawaja Haris, who earlier represented Imran Khan in the first round of litigation, appeared before the court for legal assistance while Makhdoom Ali Khan was present on behalf of the federal government, Dawn.com reported.

The SC, noting that the bench was unavailable next week, adjourned the hearing indefinitely, it said.

Khan appeared as a petitioner through video link in the case, but the hearing was not live streamed unlike the current practice, which had been in vogue since the top judge started it last year after becoming the chief justice. Even the previous proceedings of the case were broadcast live by the SC but not Thursday’s hearing.

Consequently, Khan’s followers could not see him live for the first time since he was arrested in August last year.

According to Dawn.com, speaking with media persons outside the Supreme Court, PTI’s senator Ali Zafar said, the case is in its “very early stages” and added, it was the Bench’s jurisdiction whether or not Khan’s statement is broadcast live.

However, his party shared the image of the purported video call on a laptop screen showing Khan seated in the e-court room wearing a light-blue shirt.

The News International quoted sources to report that the SC authorities have started the investigations to ascertain how the image was leaked and added that the police will take action against whoever is found involved in this “as this was done in violation of the courtroom rules.”

“Directions have been issued to review the CCTV footage and identify the person who captured the image. After this, the frame size of the video link was minimised,” it said.

Khan’s party said in a statement that there was no live streaming from the apex court as the registrar maintained that it was the prerogative of the bench to decide.

“Judicial process demands fairness and openness, (and) transparency can only be ensured through public view of proceedings. Refusal to stream proceedings advances unfairness and non-transparency and must be condemned. CJ has changed the process unilaterally and has discredited his own decision that brought him fame soon after he took over,” it said.

Khan has been charged in several cases, including cypher and unlawful marriage, and has remained imprisoned even though he had obtained bail in some other cases.

He was arrested in August last year and since then has been incarcerated, first in the Attock Jai and now in Adiala Jail and out of sight.

His appearance in court comes a day after two courts granted him relief in separate cases, including the Al-Qadir Trust matter. A division of the high court led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri granted him bail in the RS 60 billion case, while Judicial Magistrate Suhaib Bilal Ranjha also acquitted him in a case registered against him at the Khanna police station in connection with the Azadi March in 2022.

Despite the relief, his party showed apprehensions about a ban on visitors in the Adiala jail, saying the move aimed to keep Khan away from the apex court proceedings.

A three-member bench of the apex court in September 2023 had approved Khan’s petition challenging amendments made to the country’s accountability laws during the tenure of the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government.

Islamabad, Pakistan:

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was granted bail in Islamabad on Wednesday on land corruption charges but will have to stay in jail to serve time in two other cases, his lawyer said.

The former cricket superstar was indicted last week on charges that he and his wife were gifted land by a real estate developer when Khan was prime minister from 2018-22 in exchange for illegal favours.

Khan, who denies wrongdoing, had filed a bail application before Islamabad High Court.

His party lawyer, Naeem Haider Panjutha, confirmed the granting of bail on social media platform X but said Khan remained in custody after two convictions – one involving the leaking of state secrets and the other his marriage violating Islamic law.

Khan, 71, has been in jail since August last year. In total, he has been convicted in four cases, but sentences in two cases have been suspended.

Khan is named in dozens of cases, including charges of inciting violence against the state in the aftermath of his removal from office in 2022 in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence.

His wife, Bushra Bibi, is also in jail serving time in a case related to unlawfully marrying Khan in 2018.

The case in which Khan was granted bail on Wednesday involves the Al-Qadir Trust, a non-governmental welfare organisation set up by Khan and wife when he was still in office.

Prosecutors say the trust was a front for the former premier to receive land as a bribe from a real estate developer. The land includes 60 acres (24 hectares) near Islamabad and another large plot close to Khan’s hilltop mansion in the capital.

In a statement following the bail, Khan’s media team said the land was not for personal gain and Khan had set up a “religious and scientific” educational institution.

It added that the cases were filed to keep Khan in prison and prevent him from participating the Feb. 8 national elections.

Khan faced a string of convictions in the lead-up to the elections but his party-backed candidates still won the most seats. They did not have the numbers to form a government, which was led by an alliance of his rivals led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Security officers escort Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan as he appeared in Islamabad High Court, Islamabad, Pakistan, on May 12, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s jail detention related to charges of leaking state secrets was extended for another two weeks, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

The jail custody has been extended until September 26, his lawyer Naeem Panjutha said in a post on X messaging platform, formerly Twitter.

Khan has been in prison since early August, having earlier been convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to three years.

A high court last month suspended his sentence, but a prior order for his remand in custody in the state secrets case prevented his release.

Karachi:

A Pakistani court on Wednesday extended the jail custody of former Prime Minister Imran Khan for 14 days to investigate him on charges of leaking state secrets, his lawyer said, a day after another court suspended his prison sentence for graft.

The special court held the proceedings at Attock Jail, where Mr Khan began the three-year prison term on August 5 after being found guilty of unlawfully selling state gifts.

A high court suspended that sentence on Tuesday, ordering Mr Khan to be released on bail, but he was barred from leaving as he was still under remand in the official secrets case.

Speaking to journalists outside the jail after judge extended Imran Khan’s remand until September 13, Khan’s lawyer Naeem Panjutha said an application for bail had been submitted and would be heard on September 2.

“We have also filed a plea for an open court trial,” the lawyer said, anticipating that the prosecution could seek a closed door trial, without media of public present.

Multiple cases have been lodged against the 70-year-old former national cricket captain since he lost the premiership in a parliamentary confidence vote in April last year.

Mr Khan denies any wrongdoing, and says the accusations against him are politically motivated.

Imran Khan’s supporters believe their leader is being punished for having the temerity to challenge the military’s dominant influence in Pakistan’s politics, and that the courts are being used to keep him out of a national election that is due later this year, but could be delayed till early 2024.

While the sentence in the graft case has been suspended, the conviction still stands, giving the Election Commission no reason to remove the five-year ban on Khan contesting elections.

Khan has been charged under the Official Secrets Act for making public the contents of a confidential cable sent by Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States and using it for political gains, according to a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) case report seen by Reuters. If found guilty, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

His top aide, former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has already been arrested and questioned in the case.

FANNING SUSPICIONS

Imran Khan alleges that the cable showed the United States was pressing Pakistan’s military to topple his government by warning of consequences for Pakistan if the confidence vote failed to remove him.

Washington and Pakistan’s military have denied that.

But conspiracy theories abound in Pakistan – a country where no elected prime minister has completed their term.

The US State Department issued a statement saying senior US diplomat Victoria Nuland spoke on Tuesday with Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani and discussed the importance of “timely, free and fair elections”, as well as Pakistan’s economic stability and then need for continued engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Mr Khan faces dozens of cases, including charges of corruption, abetment to murder, treason and orchestrating violent protests that followed his initial arrest in May. He denies all the charges.

This week, Mr Khan notched a couple of wins. On Monday, the Balochistan High Court dismissed a sedition case against him, saying it was improperly filed.

And Tuesday’s decision by the Islamabad High Court to suspend Imran Khan’s jail sentence in the graft case came after Khan appealed on grounds that he was convicted without being given the right to defend himself in a summary trial.

The prosecution, and Khan’s political opponents, say the court accelerated the trial only after he ignored dozens of summons and arrest warrants for months.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

File photo of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. A special court on August 30, 2023 extended the judicial remand of Mr. Khan till September 13.
| Photo Credit: PTI

A special court on Wednesday (August 30) extended till September 13 the judicial remand of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in a case related to the alleged disclosure of state secrets.

Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, who arrived at Attock jail in Punjab to conduct the hearing, issued the decision in the case of the missing cipher, a classified state document that Mr. Khan had waved during a political rally ahead of his ouster from office last year.

The hearing of the case took place at the Attock District Jail following approval by the Law Ministry amid security concerns expressed by the Interior Ministry.

Authorities decided on Tuesday to hold the hearing of the case inside the Attock district jail where Mr. Khan has been kept since August 5 after his conviction in the Toshakhana corruption case.

Mr. Khan’s sentence was suspended by a two-member Bench of the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday, but he was not allowed to walk free, as the judge hearing the cipher case ordered to keep him in prison and produce him for hearing.

According to Geo News report, Judge Zulqernain extended judicial remand till September 13, meaning that Mr. Khan will remain in jail.