New Toshakhana case: Accountability court extends Imran, Bushra Bibi’s physical remand by 10 days

An accountability court in Rawalpindi on Monday extended PTI founder Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi’s physical remand for 10 days in a new Toshakhana case.

Imran, 71, has been imprisoned at the Adiala Jail for almost a year following his conviction in four cases — two Toshakhana references, the cipher case, and the Iddat case, in which his wife, Bushra Bibi, is also jailed.

Imran’s sentences in the Toshakhana references were suspended while he was acquitted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the cipher case in June.

Various courts have also acquitted him in several other cases filed against him since the events of May 9, 2023 — the day when his first arrest had caused riots across the country, following which the state launched a crackdown against him and his party.

An Islamabad district and sessions court had also recently accepted the appeals filed by Imran and his spouse against their conviction in the Iddat case.

Shortly after the court acquitted him in the said case, however, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had re-arrested Imran and his spouse in a new Toshakhana case, dashing their hopes of a release from prison.

As NAB secured an eight-day remand of Imran in the Toshakhana case on July 14, the Lahore police had also “arrested” him in connection with a dozen cases, including the attack on the Corps Commander House. He is under a 10-day physical remand for investigation in the May 9 cases.

The couple had petitioned the IHC on July 18 against their remand in the Toshakhana case.

The couple was presented in their hearing today in Adiala Jail upon the expiry of a previous extension in their remand. NAB requested Judge Muhammad Ali Waraich to grant an additional 14-day physical remand of the couple.

Instead, the judge extended their remand by 10 days and adjourned the next hearing till August 8. He also ordered that the investigation’s progress report be submitted in the next hearing.