Claim: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been released from jail.
Fact: The claim is false. While the Supreme Court recently granted bail to Khan in eight cases related to the 9 May riots, he remains imprisoned at Adiala Jail.
A video showing Imran Khan in a crowd was shared online with the text:
“تازه ترین صورتحال خان صاحب کو رہا کر دیا ۔ مبارک ہو پاکستانیوں”
[Translation: Latest update – Khan Sahib has been released. Congratulations, Pakistanis.]
Another video circulating online carried the caption:
“وزیراعظم عمران خان کے ضمانت منظور عدالت نے فوراً رہائی کا حکم دے دیا۔ 9 مئی کیس زمین بوس ہو گیا۔”
[Translation: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s bail has been accepted. The court has ordered his immediate release. The 9 May case has been buried.]
Cases against Imran Khan
In 2022, Khan was ousted from power after a vote of no-confidence in his leadership was passed in parliament. In August 2023, Khan was arrested at his Lahore residence after receiving a three-year prison sentence in a corruption case involving the illegal sale of state gifts. This conviction also disqualified Khan from holding political office for five years.
Khan, who was previously arrested in May 2023 in another corruption case but released on bail within days, denied any wrongdoing and claimed he had acquired the gifts legally. His arrest in August 2023 followed after over 150 legal cases were brought against him since his ousting in April 2022, many of which were linked to allegations of corruption and inciting violence during the deadly protests of 9 May 2023.
In January 2024, the former Prime Minister was sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets under the Official Secrets Act. A year later, in January 2025, Khan was sentenced to 14 years in prison in a corruption case involving the Al-Qadir Trust, making it the longest sentence he has received so far. He was also fined over £4,000, while his wife, Bushra Bibi, received a seven-year sentence and a fine. Khan has dismissed all the charges, claiming that they are politically motivated.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first searched for news reports regarding Khan’s release, but did not find any relevant reports.
A further investigation revealed that, on 21 August 2025, the Supreme Court of Pakistan accepted Imran Khan’s bail pleas in eight cases linked to the 9 May 2023 riots. Earlier, his bail was rejected by an anti-terrorism court in November 2024 and by the Lahore High Court in June 2025, prompting him to approach the apex court.
A three-member bench led by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi granted the relief after hearing arguments from both sides. However, Khan remains imprisoned at Adiala Jail due to a conviction in the £190 million graft case and faces other pending trials.
Soch Fact Check also reached out to Barrister Ali Tahir from Imran Khan’s legal team, who clarified that the former Prime Minister has not been released as the conviction in the Al-Qadir Trust case still stands and needs to be adjudged in appeal (sic) by the Islamabad High Court.
Virality
The claim was shared here, here, here, and here on Facebook. Archived here, here, here, and here.
On Instagram, it was shared here (archive).
Conclusion: Imran Khan has not been released but only granted bail by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in eight cases.
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Background image in cover photo: ARY News
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