ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani judge on Monday ordered police to drop terrorism charges against former prime minister Imran Khan for verbally threatening police officers and a female judge during a political rally.

The charges followed a speech Khan gave in the capital Islamabad last month, in which he vowed to sue the city’s police chief and the judge for allowing police to question Shahbaz Gill, who is chief of staff at Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (Movement for Justice) party.

The ex-premier made the controversial remarks after being told that Gill had been allegedly tortured by police following his arrest on charges of inciting troops to mutiny.

Fawad Chaudhry, a leader at Khan’s party, hailed the court order by Athar Minallah, the chief justice at the court in Islamabad.

The order came days after the Islamabad high tribunal granted bail to Gill. His lawyer, Salman Safdar, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the court granted him a 500,000-rupee bail ($2,000) on September 15.

“We are waiting for court’s orders, and he will be released later today,” he said then.

Gill was arrested last month over his comments about the South Asian nation’s all-powerful army, which acts as a political kingmaker.

He said on television that junior officers should not follow orders that violate “the will of the majority,” but was detained soon after on charges of sedition “tantamount to inciting the rank and file of armed forces toward revolt.”

Khan, a former cricket starturned-politician who came to power in 2018, is currently on bail, which shields him from arrest in several cases.

Before the latest court order, Khan faced several years in prison under Pakistan’s 1997 anti-terrorism law, which granted police wider powers amid sectarian violence in the country.

He was removed from power in April through a no-confidence vote in parliament. Since then, he has been holding rallies across the country to pressure Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to agree to snap elections. Sharif has rejected the demand.