On Sunday, an accountability court approved an eight-day physical remand for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi in a new Toshakhana reference.
This development followed a brief respite for the couple, who had been acquitted in the iddat case, also known as the un-Islamic nikah case, just a day earlier. Despite their acquittal, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) swiftly arrested them in the new Toshakhana reference. Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka had previously overturned their conviction, which had sentenced them to seven years in prison and fined them Rs500,000 each, after finding their nikah to be fraudulent due to a petition filed by Bushra’s ex-husband, Khawar Maneka.
Shortly after the acquittal, a team from the anti-corruption watchdog, led by Deputy Director Mohsin Haroon, apprehended the couple at Adiala Jail. The new reference alleges “misuse of power for acquiring Toshakhana gifts.”
The PTI had been anticipating a significant boost following a legal victory in which a 13-member Supreme Court bench declared the party eligible for the allocation of reserved seats. However, the arrest of their founder in the Toshakhana case tempered the party’s hopes for his imminent release.
