PTI founder Imran Khan’s nephew, Shershah Khan, was released on Friday from Kot Lakhpat jail, a day after being granted bail by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore.
On Thursday, he was granted bail in a case pertaining to the Jinnah House attack during the May 9, 2023 riots, as Shershah’s triathlete brother, Shahrez Khan, was also released from jail after being granted bail a day earlier.
The Lahore Police had arrested Shershah, son of Imran’s sister Aleema Khan, from outside his home on August 22. He was then sent on a five-day physical remand and later to jail for 14 days on August 28.
Shershah’s lawyer, Rana Mudassar Umer, confirmed to Dawn.com that Shershah had been released from Kot Lakhpat jail.
He also posted about his release in a post on X, along with a picture of his co-counsel and Shershah himself.
In the last hearing on Tuesday, the ATC had again granted the prosecution time till today to present the case record in connection with Shershah’s post-arrest bail plea.
ATC Judge Manzer Ali Gill presided over the hearing today, where Advocate Rana Mudassar Umer appeared as Shershah’s counsel.
During the hearing, Umer pointed out that the prosecution had still not produced the case record in the Jinnah House attack case against Shershah.
“No one knows when the trial will begin. Therefore, the suspect cannot be kept in jail for an unlimited period,” the counsel contended. He asserted that “no evidence” had been produced against his client on the record.
“The suspect was not involved in any riots,” Umer stated, arguing that individuals with more serious charges against them had been given bail in other cases.
“Someone cannot be implicated [in a case] just based on one suspect’s identification of him,” the lawyer contended.
Pointing out the arrest “28 months” after the May 9 incidents, Umer alleged, “Vindictive actions are being taken because of being a part of the PTI founder’s family.
The lawyer called the purported recovery of a cane from Shershah, as per the prosecution, “planted”. He argued that the same ATC had previously discharged PTI’s Dr Yasmin Rashid from a case based on a co-suspect’s statement.
Subsequently, Judge Gill accepted the post-arrest bail plea of Shershah against a surety bond of Rs100,000 and ordered his release, if not needed in any other case.
