The Islamabad High Court has granted former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan a three-day bail in a number of cases against him, while Pakistani Home Minister Rana Thannaullah Khan said Imran Khan would be tried before a military court.
Al Jazeera's correspondent in Pakistan said the court decided on Wednesday to extend Imran Khan, 70, on bail for three days in the case known as the land of Qadir University.
Khan faces dozens of charges in cases brought against him in several Pakistani courts, including anti-corruption, terrorism and abuse of power, but denies any wrongdoing and maintains that all the allegations are false, fabricated, based on a deliberate misunderstanding of the law and politically motivated.
Khan's arrest on May 9 sparked widespread protests by his supporters, raising fresh concerns about the stability of the nuclear-armed state as it battles its worst economic crisis in decades.
Imran Khan surrounded by security personnel as he leaves the High Court in Islamabad on Wednesday (Reuters)
The court's decision comes a day after Pakistani Interior Minister Rana Thanaullah Khan announced that Imran Khan would be tried by a military court for "orchestrating" attacks on military facilities during violent protests earlier this month.
In an interview with local broadcaster Down News, Thanaullah Khan accused Imran Khan of "personally" orchestrating violence and attacks that killed at least 8 people and injured nearly 300 others, including more than 100 policemen across the country.
The Pakistani minister's comments came days after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told reporters that no decision had yet been made to try Khan before a military court.
Asked if Khan could be tried in a military court, Thana Allah replied: "Absolutely, why not?
"The plan he put in place to target military facilities and then implement it, according to my understanding, is a case of a military court," he said. "Everything has been done. He is the architect of all this discord," he said, claiming there was evidence to support the accusation.
In a statement, the Pakistani army vowed to bring to justice those it described as those involved in heinous crimes against military installations and individuals in connection with the riots that erupted after Imran Khan's arrest on May 9.
The army's statement came days after Imran Khan was released by the Islamabad High Court, preceded by riots and chaos in a number of cities in the country, protesting his arrest on corruption charges.
Khan on May 26 called for immediate talks with state officials as pressure mounted on him, amid a crackdown on his top aides and supporters that led to the arrest of thousands of them and the resignation of a large number of his party, but Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of dialogue with him.
Imran Khan was ousted as prime minister after parliament passed a vote of no confidence in April 2022.
Khan blames his ouster on a U.S.-backed conspiracy, a claim the current coalition government in Islamabad and Washington has repeatedly denied.
Khan miraculously survived an assassination attempt as he led a long anti-government march towards Islamabad last November to pressure the government to announce an early date for elections.