Pakistan court quashes sedition case against former PM Imran Khan
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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party activists and supporters protesting on Sunday against the arrest of Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan in Karachi.
PHOTO: AFP
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ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani court on Monday quashed a sedition case against former prime minister Imran Khan, according to his lawyer and a court order, providing some relief for the cricket hero-turned-politician who was jailed on corruption charges earlier in August.
Khan, 70, was charged in March with the sedition case registered in the south-western city of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, over one of his speeches.
Following an appeal by Khan, the Balochistan High Court said prosecutors had failed to obtain the required consent from the federal or provincial government to lodge the charges. It ruled that the charges are “without lawful authority and are of no legal effect”, and directed the authorities to quash the case.
“God be praised,” Khan’s lawyer Naeem Panjutha posted on X, the former Twitter, celebrating the dismissal of the case.
The sedition case was among dozens of suits Khan faced after losing a parliamentary confidence vote in April 2022.
A court in Islamabad was expected to rule later on Monday on Khan’s appeal to suspend his conviction and three-year jail sentence for graft.
Khan lost power after falling out with Pakistan’s influential military, and his attempts to rally popular support have stirred political turmoil in a country already struggling through one of its worst economic crises.
A general election expected in November is likely to be delayed until at least early 2024.
Khan cannot contest and has been barred from holding political office for five years.
Aside from the graft and sedition cases, Khan is also facing charges ranging from terrorism and encouraging assaults on state institutions – after his supporters attacked military and government installations in May – to abetment to murder, following the slaying of a Supreme Court lawyer in June.
Lawyer Abdul Razzaq had been seeking to lodge treason charges against Khan in the Balochistan High Court for unlawfully dissolving Parliament following his ouster in 2022. After his death in a drive-by shooting in Quetta, his son accused Khan of ordering the attack.
Khan has denied any involvement. REUTERS
