Pakistan SC declares Imran Khan’s arrest illegal

Pakistan SC declares Imran Khan’s arrest illegal

Pakistan’s Supreme Court today declared country’s former prime minister Imran Khan’s arrest illegal and ordered his release from anti-graft agency’s custody, Pakistani and international media outlet reports.

"Your arrest was invalid so the whole process needs to be backtracked," AFP news agency quoted as saying Pakkistan’s chief justice Umar Ata Bandial as saying as the ex-premier was brought before the apex court which earlier today ordered him to be produced before the apex court.

Reuters news agency said Pakistan's top court on Thursday ordered the anti-graft National Accountability Bureau to release Khan from its custody.

Khan was produced before the Supreme Court after it ordered the country's anti-corruption watchdog to produce him before the bench as it heard his plea against his dramatic arrest in a graft case.

Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported 7-year-old Khan was subsequently presented in court amid tight security a little after 5:45pm “via the judges’ gate”.

Khan's arrest on Tuesday in a land fraud case sparked deadly and widespread protests across the South Asian country, prompting the government to call in the army to help restore order.