Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi have approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against their arrest in the new Toshakhana case.

According to 24NewsHD TV channel, the pair moved the court through their counsel Barrister Salman Safdar and Khalid Yusuf Chaudhry.

In the petition, it has been argued that the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi were arrested without a warrant.

They are being subjected to political persecution, the petition maintained, adding that political opponents – the federal and Punjab governments want Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi under custody.

The court was told that the arrest during the application hearing in the Islamabad High Court was evidence of malice and that the National Accountability Court (NAB) was being used for political revenge.

Last week, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Mr and Mrs Khan moments after their release from Adiala Jail in the Iddat case. A NAB team, headed by Deputy Director Mohsin Haroon, arrested them in a fresh Toshakhana case.

NAB claimed that Bushra Bibi and Imran Khan obtained gifts from the Toshakhana at a nominal rate and sold them in the market at a high price when Imran Khan was the prime minister.

The petitioners argued that the high courts have emphasized in their judgments that arrest cannot be made merely on registration of a case.  

They requested the court to pass on their release orders and make their arrest conditional with court orders in future.

Petition