Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday ordered the dismissal of police terrorism charges against former Prime Minister Imran Khan, based on allegations that a female judge and high-ranking police officials were threatened.
The Supreme Court is set to separately hear Khan's contempt of court charge on September 22.
Khan's lawyer, Ali Zafar, told Bloomberg News that a panel of two judges at the Islamabad High Court headed by Chief Justice Athr Minullah issued the ruling while accepting Khan's appeal to withdraw the terrorism charges.
The decision constitutes a breakthrough for Khan - the former cricket star - who has faced a series of legal problems since his ouster last April through a vote of no-confidence in Parliament proposed by the opposition coalition at the time.
Lawyer Faisal Chaudhry told Reuters that the court had said allegations that Khan had abused police and judiciary officers did not amount to terrorism charges.
The accusations relate to a speech by Khan in which he is said to have threatened police and judicial officials after refusing to release one of his closest aides on bail in a disobedience case.
Babar Awan, another lawyer for Khan's defense team, said the decision was evidence that the accusations against Khan were "fabricated".