After the initial decision, Mr. Khan stayed in court as the justices considered bail in other corruption cases.
The Islamabad High Court awarded Imran Khan parole for two weeks.
The former Pakistani prime minister was back in court following his arrest on corruption charges on Tuesday, which triggered countrywide violence that resulted in at least 10 deaths and dozens of injuries.
Thursday, the country’s Supreme Court ruled that Mr. Khan’s detention was unlawful and ordered his release from custody. However, for his safety, Mr. Khan spent the night as a police guest.
It subsequently requested that the Islamabad High Court, a lower court, reconsider its initial decision to sustain the arrest.
The supreme court stated that it would uphold Friday’s decision.
“They had no basis for arresting me. I was kidnapped. It appears there is a law of the jungle,” Khan told The Independent.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif criticized the decision of the Supreme Court on Friday, stating that there was a “genuine corruption case” against Mr. Khan, but that the judiciary had become a “stone wall” shielding him.
Mr. Khan remained in court following the decision as his attorneys petitioned judges for similar protection in several other corruption allegations, attempting to bar the government from arresting him again on legal grounds.
The National Accountability Bureau detained the prominent 70-year-old opposition leader earlier this week on corruption charges.
The information minister of Pakistan, Marriyum Aurangzeb, defended the arrest of the former professional cricketer.
She stated, “A person who has defied a court, who disregards the law, who avoids courts, and who believes he is invulnerable and cannot be questioned must be treated as any other citizen.”
She denied that Mr. Khan’s popularity after an assassination attempt prompted the detention.
“If we had wanted to arrest him or silence him because of his popularity, we would not have waited 14 months,” she said.
