Two sisters of incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, returned home on Thursday after authorities withdrew their extended detention orders, while their third sister Aleema Khan remained in jail.
PTI legal counsel Rana Mudassar Umer announced their release in a post on X, confirming that both women had left Kot Lakhpat jail and reached home safely.
The sisters had spent 53 days in detention under Section 3 of the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance. Their detention had initially lasted 30 days before the Punjab government extended it for another month.
Their release also prompted calls from within the PTI legal team for the authorities to free other people held under the same provisions. Lawyer Taimur Malik said that the withdrawal of the detention order had secured the women’s release and called for similar action in the remaining cases.
Noreen’s son Wali also confirmed that his mother and aunt were no longer in custody. In a post on X, he questioned the legal basis for keeping them behind bars without charges or a trial.
“For 53 days they were held under Section 3 of the MPO. No charge. No trial,” he wrote.
He also referred to Noreen’s transfer to a cardiac hospital during detention, saying that the family had not received any information when she was taken there two weeks earlier. Noreen, who is in her seventies, had been moved to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) on October 28 after experiencing high blood pressure.
Wali questioned both the decision to detain the sisters and the subsequent withdrawal of their detention orders, saying, “Their jailing was arbitrary and so is their release.”
The sisters’ detention had been challenged in the Lahore High Court (LHC) after the initial 30-day period ended last month. During the proceedings, Punjab government informed the court that the detention had been extended for another 30 days, after which the court disposed of the petition seeking their release.
Aleema, who was detained before her sisters, remains in jail.
The PTI had earlier criticised the authorities for transferring Noreen to PIC without informing her family. The party raised concerns about her health and the treatment of political prisoners.
The government, however, said that Noreen had received medical attention and was fine. On October 29, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah told the Senate that her medical tests had returned normal results.
