ISLAMABAD : August 5,1023: Judge Humayun Dilawar of the District and Sessions Court of Islamabad has ordered former Prime Minister Imran Khan to three years in prison in the Tosha Khana criminal case. 1 lakh has also been fined.
Judge Humayun Dilawar ordered IG Islamabad to arrest Chairman PTI to comply with the verdict.
Among the former Prime Ministers of Pakistan who were arrested in one way or another, the first name is Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, then Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, followed by his daughter Benazir Bhutto, Mian Nawaz Sharif and Yusuf. Raza Gilani’s name comes up.
It should be noted that former Prime Minister Imran Khan is not the first former Prime Minister to be arrested. Pakistan has a history of arresting and imprisoning prime ministerial posts. Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy was the fifth Prime Minister of Pakistan (September 1956 to October 1957). He refused to endorse General Ayub Khan’s usurpation of power. He was first banned from politics under the Elective Bodies Disqualification Order (EBDO) and later arrested in January 1962 under the Security of Pakistan Act of 1952 on charges of ‘anti-state activities’ and sent to Karachi. was put in solitary confinement in the Central Jail.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan. September 1977: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 1973 to July 1977.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was arrested on September 3, 1977 for the murder of Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Khan Kasuri in March 1974. His trial was initiated by the Lahore High Court instead of the local court, which led to his appeal. One less chance. He was hanged on April 4, 1979 in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, after being sentenced to death by the Lahore High Court and the Supreme Court about one and a half years later.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s daughter, Benazir, who was the prime minister of Pakistan twice, was detained and imprisoned for various periods after her father’s execution. He was first detained in prison for six months and then under house arrest for six months
Benazir Bhutto was the Prime Minister of Pakistan twice (December 1998 to August 1990 and October 1993 to November 1996). Benazir Bhutto was the opposition leader during the dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq (1977-1988). He arrived in Pakistan in August 1985 to attend his brother’s funeral and remained under house arrest for 90 days.
August 1986: Benazir Bhutto was arrested for condemning the government at an Independence Day rally in Karachi. She was released in April 1980, but in March 1981, the Zia government arrested her again. The hijacking of the PIA flight by an organization called Al-Zulfiqar was justified. He was kept in Sukkur Jail during this time and was released after three years in 1984. They were not prosecuted nor punished.
In February 2001, NAB arrested Yusuf Raza Gilani, a member of the People’s Party, on charges of abuse of power. He was accused of abusing his powers as Speaker of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1997 and causing damage to the national treasury. He was sentenced to five years in prison with hard labor by the Accountability Court in June 2002. Counted, but he completed his sentence.
On 26 April 2012, Yusuf Raza Gilani became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan after he was sentenced to a few moments in prison for contempt of court. He was declared ineligible for the membership of the National Assembly and he was not even the Prime Minister.Nawaz Sharif, a three-time Prime Minister of Pakistan, was first arrested when his government was overthrown in 1999 by then Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf.
He was also lodged in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, during which he was sentenced to life imprisonment, fine and hanging in the case of non-payment of taxes during purchase of helicopters, corruption and aircraft conspiracy.
Meanwhile, the government of Pakistan agreed to release him on the condition that he would not return to Pakistan for 10 years and politics for 21 years. He returned to Pakistan in 2007 and once again as a result of the 2013 general elections. Became Prime Minister.
The Accountability Court of Islamabad convicted him in the Avenfield reference on July 6, 2018, but he could not be arrested immediately because he was out of the country.
On July 13, 2018, just two weeks before the general elections, he returned to Pakistan where he was arrested at the airport and sent to Adiala Jail. July 2018: Nawaz Sharif was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau on charges of corruption and Sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. His daughter Maryam Nawaz was also arrested with him. Nawaz Sharif was released two months later after the court suspended his sentence pending a final order from the High Court.
December 2018: Nawaz Sharif was arrested again and sentenced to 7 years in prison in a case related to his family’s ownership of a steel mill in Saudi Arabia. In November 2019, he was allowed to leave the country for treatment. He has not returned to Pakistan since then.Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of Pakistan Muslim League (N) was the Prime Minister of Pakistan from January 2017 to May 2018. On July 19, he was arrested by a 12-member NAB team. He was alleged to have committed corruption in the billions of rupees contract of LNG import in 2013 while he was the Minister of Petroleum. He was released from Adiala Jail on 27 February 2020 on bail.
The current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was arrested on September 28, 2020 after the bail was canceled by the Lahore High Court in the NAB case regarding money laundering. He was released from Kot Lakhpat Central Jail in Lahore after about 7 months.
Two separate arrest warrants were issued for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan for threatening the judge and not appearing in the ongoing cases related to Tosha Khana gifts. Party workers gathered outside. Meanwhile, there was a violent clash between the workers and the security forces, in which the security forces fired tear gas at the protesters.
On May 9, 2023, Imran Khan was arrested from the premises of the Islamabad High Court in a corruption case related to Al-Qadir University Trust. Two days later, the Supreme Court declared his arrest ‘illegal and illegal’, after which he was released.
On August 5, 2023, almost 3 months after his arrest and release in the Al-Qadir Trust case, former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested by the police from his residence in Zaman Park area of Lahore. Sentenced to 3 years imprisonment and one lakh rupees fine Imran Khan was sentenced to three years imprisonment in the Tosha Khana case and his subsequent arrest is a new narrative in the current political situation of Pakistan.
Immediately after Imran Khan’s arrest, T
ehreek-e-Insaf has released a pre-recorded statement of the party chairman in which Imran Khan is calling on his workers to ‘not sit quietly and protest’. The lawyers have announced to challenge the verdict in the high court. After this arrest, reactions from the leaders of various political parties and common people continue.
Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb has said that it is not correct to compare the arrest of Imran Khan with the arrest of Nawaz Sharif in the past. He further said that this arrest is not a political revenge and Chairman PTI was not arrested by the government but the trial court has sentenced him after fulfilling all the legal requirements.
Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb has said in a press conference in Islamabad that ‘If anyone has any doubts that Imran Khan is being targeted for political revenge, then look at the detailed decision in which it is written that Imran Khan was given a chance. He added that Imran Khan tried to create a narrative and ‘attacked state institutions’ when questioned.
Hafiz Hamdullah, the spokesperson of PDM, the alliance of ruling political parties, while reacting to Imran Khan’s arrest, said that there has been a delay in punishing him.
Regarding the arrest, Imran Khan should not be compared with other politicians. He added that judges, generals, journalists, NAB, Election Commission officials were used in the crime of imposing Imran Khan on the nation. All should be prosecuted.
Faisal Karim Kundi, leader of the Pakistan People’s Party in the government, said that Imran Khan can appeal against this decision in the Supreme Court. He says that during Imran Khan’s tenure, leaders of the current government were also ‘arrested and then asked to prove themselves innocent.’ That “personalities and political leaders can be banned but political parties should not be banned.” He said, “This is not a political decision.” It is a court decision so they can go to court for appeal. Political party should not be banned. There should be a level playing field. People’s Party leader Qasim Geelani wrote in a tweet that “justice has been done, no one other than Imran Khan has been held responsible for the theft and sale of Tosha Khana gifts. Justice has been done today.”
