\The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday suspended former prime minister Imran Khan’s conviction after hearing his plea against a three-year jail sentence in a case involving the illegal sale of state gifts during his term in the office.
Khan was taken into custody by law enforcement agencies shortly after a trial court in Islamabad found him guilty on August 5. He was taken to a high-security jail in Attock where he was kept in prison.
Khan was also barred for five years from contesting elections by the country’s election commission soon after his conviction.
“Your petition is allowed,” Chief Justice Amir Farooq told Khan’s lawyers in the courtroom, indicating that the ex-premier’s sentence had been suspended and the court had granted him bail.
The former prime minister’s lawyers have frequently maintained their client was convicted without being given a right to defense.
A day earlier, the IHC had announced to reserve its judgement in the matter till Tuesday. Khan’s petition against his conviction called the ruling against him “without lawful authority [and] tainted with bias.” It maintained the trial court had rejected a list of witnesses for the defense a day before reaching its verdict, calling this a “gross travesty of justice, and a slap in the face of due process and fair trial.”
Reacting to the development, one of Khan’s close aides, Sayed Zulfi Bukhari the IHC had given bail to the former prime minister and his arrest in any other case would “cause further damage to our national integrity and repute of judicial system.”
“Let the innocent be free,” he added.
It is pertinent to mention that Khan continues to face a number of charges that related to violent riots that took place earlier this year after he was briefly detained by paramilitary Rangers on graft charges.
He is also facing another case under the Official Secrets Act for mishandling a confidential diplomatic cable.
