Pakistan’s top court questions bail denial to Imran Khan in May 9 cases

Pakistan’s Supreme Court issued notices on Tuesday to the provincial prosecution over eight bail petitions filed by jailed opposition leader and former prime minister Imran Khan in connection with the May 9 violence cases.

The court adjourned the matter until Aug. 19.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi directed both parties not to discuss the merits of the case during the proceedings.

In November 2024, a Lahore anti-terrorism court denied Khan’s bail in cases linked to the May 9, 2023 riots, including an attack on the residence of the Lahore corps commander.

His plea challenging that decision was also dismissed by the Lahore High Court on June 24. Days later, the former premier filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the high court’s ruling.

The hearing

During the hearing today, Punjab government counsel Zulfiqar Naqvi told the court that no notice had been issued to the prosecution in the case. Justice Afridi responded, “We will issue you a notice today.”

The chief justice questioned the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) earlier decision, asking whose merits the court had discussed when granting bail. “The Lahore High Court has given a final opinion in the bail case decision. You tell us, can such findings be given in a bail decision?” he said.

Justice Afridi ruled that arguments should be confined to the legal point of whether a court can give a final opinion on the merits of a pending case in a bail ruling. “We will not allow both parties to argue on the merits of the case,” he said as he adjourned the hearing.

Khan’s lawyer, Barrister Salman Safdar, requested an earlier hearing, but the court maintained its adjournment date.

Earlier, during bail hearings at the LHC, the Punjab prosecution submitted a report detailing how two law enforcement personnel allegedly heard Khan instigating party workers to commit violence if he was arrested.

The meetings were reportedly held undercover at a rest area in Chakri, Rawalpindi, on May 4, 2023, and at Khan’s Zaman Park residence in Lahore from May 7 to May 9, 2023.

In a comprehensive ruling in July, a two-judge LHC bench headed by Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Tariq Mahmood Bajwa stated that the prosecution had evidence suggesting Khan’s involvement in the May 9 unrest following his detention.

Safdar had argued before the LHC that Khan was in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau during the riots. He said Khan was not named in the initial police reports but was later added in supplementary challans as the primary accused, with his trial beginning one-and-a-half years after the incident.

May 9 protests

The May 9 protests broke out nationwide after Khan’s dramatic arrest on corruption charges. Demonstrators clashed with security forces, stormed military installations, and set government buildings ablaze.

Pakistan’s government described the unrest as a coordinated assault on state institutions, while the PTI insisted the protests were spontaneous expressions of political anger.

Khan, a former cricket star who served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 until his ouster in 2022, has been imprisoned since August 2023.

He faces dozens of charges, ranging from corruption to terrorism-related offenses, all of which he denies.