An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Thursday granted bail to PTI founder Imran Khan’s nephew Shershah Khan in a case pertaining to the Jinnah House attack during the May 9, 2023 riots.

The Lahore Police 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.

Today’s development comes a day after Shershah’s triathlete brother, Shahrez Khan, was also granted bail in a similar case. Shahrez was picked up on August 21 and was handed over to police custody for eight days before his judicial remand and bail.

He was released today from Kot Lakpat Jail after paying bail.

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.

Umer, on X, said the bail was a “result of teamwork” of the lawyers.

Shershah’s lawyer, Barrister Taimur Malik, also confirmed the bail approval on X.

His cousin, Qasim Zaman Khan, referring to the bails of both brothers, alleged: “These arrests were nothing but political victimisation.”

Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan had expressed their concerns over the arrests of Shahrez and Shershah, with the former terming them a “political witch-hunt”.

Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry had defended the arrests, saying they could not be chalked off as “fake, fabricated [or] politically motivated”.

On May 9, 2023, PTI supporters, protesting Imran’s arrest, staged violent protests throughout the country, vandalising military installations and state-owned buildings, while also attacking the Lahore corps commander’s residence.

Following the riots, the state launched a crackdown on the PTI, with thousands of protesters and top party leadership arrested. Scores of PTI leaders have recently been convicted in cases over the riots and disqualified from their parliamentary roles.