The Supreme Court has approved the bail of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case but despite the court decision, Imran Khan cannot be released.

The top court approved the bail of PTI founder and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday in the cipher case against a surety bond of Rs1m each.

But there are two other cases against the duo and proceedings are far from being conclusive. One of the cases involves Tosha Khana gifts and the other a transfer of £190 million pounds to Pakistan. Both of the cases were filed by the National Accountability Bureau, which ‘arrested’ Imran Khan on November 13, 2023.

Khan was already in jail, so the ‘arrested’ carried out on November 13 was largely symbolic but after his bail in other cases the ‘arrest’ became material. It means Imran Khan cannot walk out of prison even after wining bail in other cases.

On Thursday, Islamabad High Court rejected a petition to suspend the Toshakhana verdict dashing Imran Khan’s election hopes.

The bench ruled that the law does not allow changes to a decision already issued regarding suspension of sentence. It added that PTI had not requested a suspension of the verdict in the original petition.

It also cited the Supreme Court to say that sentences can be suspended but verdicts cannot.

On August 5, an accountability court found Khan guilty of corrupt practices in the Toshakhana case. The case was based on the misappropriation of Toshakhana gifts including a watch inscribed with an image of the Holy Kaaba.