The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday granted bail to former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was sentenced to three years imprisonment for his alleged involvement in the Toshakhana corruption case.
While granting bail to the cricketer-turned-politician, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri set aside the judgement delivered by a district court in Islamabad on August 5.
Earlier on August 28, the High Court had reserved its verdict after the rival lawyers concluded their arguments in the case.
On August 5, a local court in Islamabad had sentenced former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to three-year imprisonment in a corruption case.
The Founder-Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was accused of not declaring money he had earned by selling expensive state gifts, during his tenure as the 22nd Prime Minister of the country.
Additional Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar ordered immediate arrest of Khan. His lawyer Intazar Hussain told the media that Khan was taken into custody from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore.
In its previous hearing, the District and Sessions court had ordered the personal appearance of Khan on August 5 in the Toshakhana corruption case.
Advocate Gohar Ali, appearing for Khan, had requested the court to grant exemption to Khan from personal appearance. However, the court rejected the request and ordered the PTI chief to appear before it on Saturday.
Earlier on August 4, the High Court of Islamabad had upheld the maintainability of a criminal complaint filed against Khan.
The Bench led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq ordered the trial court to re-hear the case. It further rejected the petition filed by Khan seeking transfer of the case to another court and also issued notice to the Sessions Court for rejecting the list of witnesses in the case.
On May 10, the Additional Sessions Judge had inducted Khan in the case, after dismissing the protests over the admissibility of the case.
As per the complaint filed against the Pakistan former Prime Minister, Khan was accused of allegedly hiding the subtleties of the gifts he received from the Toshakhana, a storehouse where presents given to government authorities from unfamiliar authorities are kept, when he was in power.