Pakistan's Supreme Court has declared former prime minister Imran Khan's arrest earlier this week "invalid" after it sparked nationwide civil unrest.
Mr Khan appeared at the court after his lawyers challenged the legality of his arrest.
He was brought to court following an order by Pakistan's top judge Umar Ata Bandial earlier in the day.
"Your arrest was invalid so the whole process needs to be backtracked," the judge told Mr Khan.
At least five people have died in violence that has aggravated instability in the south Asian country of 220 million people as it grapples with a severe economic crisis and a delay to an International Monetary Fund bailout since November.
Mr Khan, Pakistan's most popular political leader according to polls, was arrested in a land fraud case, prompting supporters to storm military buildings and ransack the residence of a top army general in the eastern city of Lahore.
Other state buildings and assets have been attacked and set ablaze by protesters, and the government said it had approved requests from two of Pakistan's four provinces - Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, both Khan strongholds - and the federal capital Islamabad to deploy troops to restore order.
