A move that has created a political storm

As former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested in the premises of Islamabad High Court on Tuesday morning, protests broke out across cities in the country by the workers of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf (PTI). The arrest was made by Pakistan Rangers and other paramilitary personnel in a case before the National Accountability Bureau regarding the Al Qadir Trust, of which Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, are the sole trustees. The NAB has made a case of money-laundering against Khan.

Meanwhile questions arose whether it was legal to arrest Khan while he was in the court facing another case. Pakistan ruling coalition members, which includes Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) spokespersons, are telling television networks that the Rangers were implementing the arrest warrant issued by the NAB, and Khan did not have an anticipatory bail in the matter which could have prevented his arrest.

There is also the counter-argument from the government side that Khan had used the NAB to arrest his political rivals without due consideration of the NAB law which was harsher, and that recent amendments have made it relatively mild. Khan has been whisked away to the NCB offices in Rawalpindi, a cantonment town on the outskirts of Islamabad. And it has been said that he was medically examined at the NCB headquarters. Khan’s lawyer Gohar Ali Khan told the media that Khan was hit on the head and on his injured leg at the time of arrest. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan denied the charge.

Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq expressed grave reservations about the arrest of Khan in the court premises. He issued notices to the Islamabad’s Inspector General of Police, the secretary of the Interior Ministry, and the additional attorney general. The police chief of Pakistan’s capital city told the judge that the arrest was made in a corruption case. The chief justice said if the arrest was illegal, and the court has reserved its verdict in the matter, then Khan will have to be released. He objected to the whole arrest episode in the strongest terms: “Is this not an attack on judicial independence? Is this arrest not illegal? “

Pakistan’s Karachi-based newspaper, Dawn, said that the arrest warrant that the arrest the NAB issued was dated May 1, and it said that it had a copy of the arrest warrant document, and that the arrest of the former prime minister “comes on the heels” of an accusation that Khan made against Major-General Faisal Naseer, who is now heading the Inter-Services Intelligence, that the army officer has a role in the assassination attempt against Khan in Wazirabad. The army issued a statement objecting to the charge.

All the major political parties in Pakistan are opposed to Khan even as Khan was opposed to them. And after he lost the vote of confidence in April 2022, Khan had been agitating for the holding of provincial and national elections. The government seems to feel that unless Khan is arrested, the political unrest in the country would continue. Khan is of the view that the political parties are all corrupt and looted the country, and therefore they should be banned. On the other hand, the political parties are of the view that Khan’s radical anti-corruption drive will create anarchy in the country.