The judiciary gives and the judiciary takes away. Imran Khan’s convoluted entanglements with the law show no sign of abating. While he and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were acquitted in the Iddat Case that had kept them behind bars for months, they were quickly rearrested in yet another Toshakhana case, preventing them from leaving Adiala Jail and rejoining their gathered supporters.

Coming days after a major victory in the form of the Supreme Court decision that allowed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) to claim the reserved seats it had won in the election, the acquittal and release of their leader would have been a political triumph unlike anything the party has achieved in recent years.

Parliamentary power restored, Imran Khan released, and their narrative reinforced tenfold – especially considering the recent US Congress resolution and the UN Working Group advisory – the party would have re-emerged as a formidable force. The protests and rallies they had been threatening for months would have become a reality, and the state would have to deal with an entirely new conundrum as it sought to complete the thorny task of reforming the economy. With various segments of society rankling under the new economic burden, PTI was set to tap into that discontent to push its own narrative further.

However, it seems the party still has to do penance for the actions of its previous tenure. Along with the Toshakhana incidents, the May 9 riots still hang over the party’s heads, preventing it from truly breaking free from the legal system just yet. With all of the previous charges against Imran Khan falling by the wayside in one way or another, it remains to be seen how robust the new allegations are and, more importantly, how long they will keep the PTI leader embroiled in the legal system and sequestered from the political sphere.

Regardless of that timeline, Imran Khan and PTI in general will be looking at the light at the end of the tunnel.