The Pakistani government has announced its intention to initiate legal proceedings to outlaw the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, on grounds of engaging in activities deemed detrimental to the state, as reported by Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar to AFP.
The minister stated that there is substantial evidence supporting the ban on PTI. Imran Khan has been in custody for close to a year due to various legal cases that he claims were manipulated to hinder his comeback in the national elections held in February. During the day, Lahore Police ‘apprehended’ former cricketer and current politician Imran Khan in relation to the May 9 riots from the previous year after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) obtained an eight-day remand in the Toshakhana case.
Lahore’s ATC rejected the PTI chief’s pre-arrest bail in three cases related to the May 9 riots, allowing the police to take him into custody for questioning. The charges against him include abetment in the attack on several locations, including the Lahore Corps Commander House, Jinnah House, Askari Tower, and Shadman police station. The move by the Shehbaz Sharif government comes shortly after the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared PTI eligible for reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies.
As a result, the PTI has now become the largest party in the National Assembly with 109 seats. Imran Khan, who was removed from power in 2022, has been vocal in his criticism of the Pakistan Army leadership and its supporters. He is facing multiple legal cases as a result. Last Saturday, an Islamabad court acquitted him and his wife Bushra Bibi in the “iddat case,” also known as the un-Islamic nikah case, in which the couple had initially been sentenced to seven years in prison and fined five lakh Pakistani rupees each. This decision came after a challenge by Bushra’s ex-husband, Khawar Maneka.