All eyes are on the Islamabad High Court (IHC) as it will today (Tuesday) reserve the conviction of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case and a petition challenging the sentence handed down to him. The decision is about to be announced. .
Earlier this month, a district and sessions court in the federal capital sentenced Khan to three years in prison and a fine of Rs 1 lakh, after finding him guilty of corruption related to the state gift fund.
The former prime minister, who was disqualified from holding any public office due to the conviction, was arrested soon after the trial court’s verdict and has been lodged in Attock jail since then.
However, Khan challenged the decision – which barred him from contesting elections later this year – in the High Court, seeking his release and suspension of his sentence.
On Monday, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri of the Islamabad High Court reserved its decision after completing the proceedings on the petition.
The IHC is expected to deliver its verdict at 11 am today.
Before the conclusion of the proceedings, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) counsel Amjad Pervez presented his arguments opposing the PTI chief’s pleas.
The PTI has requested Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Humayun Dilawar to suspend his conviction, and urged the court to declare both the conviction and sentence in the case illegal.
He also demanded acquittal of the ousted prime minister in the case, arguing that the ECP’s complaint against him was inadmissible.
In his arguments in support of the plea, Khan’s counsel Sardar Latif Khan Khosa focused on three aspects – suspension of his client’s short sentence, jurisdictional error and improper authorization.
He also objected to the denial of Khan’s right to defence.
However, during Monday’s hearing, the election body’s counsel dismissed the objections to the upholding of the ECP’s complaint as baseless.
He claimed that the witnesses produced by the defense were not relevant as they were tax consultants, while the complainant accused the former prime minister of submitting a false statement of assets.
He also objected to Khan’s plea for suspension of sentence saying that it is not a matter of right but a discretion of the court which can be exercised with justice.
What is Toshakhana?
Established in 1974, Toshahkhana – a Persian word meaning “treasury” – is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and serves rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats and officials of other governments and heads of state and foreigners. Stores valuable gifts given by dignitaries. A gesture of goodwill
It has valuables ranging from bulletproof cars, gold-plated monuments and expensive paintings to watches, jewellery, carpets and swords.
Under the rules governing the Toshakhana, government officials can keep gifts if they are of low value, while paying a dramatically lower fee to the government for extravagant items.
Case
The Toshakhana has been under a microscope ever since allegations emerged that Khan bought gifts as prime minister at exorbitant rates and sold them in the open market for huge profits.
The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was accused of abusing his prime ministership from 2018 to 2022 by buying and selling state-owned gifts received during overseas trips worth 140 million rupees ($635,000). ) was greater than
Among the gifts were watches given by a royal family, according to government officials, who had previously alleged that Khan’s aides had sold them in Dubai.
Additionally, seven wristwatches, six made by watchmaker Rolex, and the most expensive “Mastergraph Limited Edition” priced at 85 million Pakistani rupees ($385,000) were among the gifts.
A reference was sent to the Election Commission by National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf asking for an investigation into the matter.
In October 2022, the electoral body found the former prime minister guilty of corrupt practices.
Timeline of Toshakhana case
On 21 October 2022, the ECP maintained that the former prime minister had made “false statements and false declarations” about gifts and disqualified him under Article 63(1)(p) of the Constitution.
Subsequently, the election watchdog approached the sessions court in the federal capital against the PTI chief for allegedly misleading the ECP regarding the gifts he received from foreign dignitaries while in office. Criminal action was requested.
The trial court on May 10 had dismissed the plea to declare the case inadmissible while indicting the PTI chairman.
On July 4, the IHC reversed the trial court’s decision and directed it to rehear the petitioner and decide the matter within seven days.
On July 8, ADSJ Dilawar declared the Toshakhana case against Khan admissible, which was again challenged at the IHC.
During the trial, Khan’s lawyers also accused the presiding judge of bias based on the Facebook posts and sought a transfer of the case.
On August 2, the trial court rejected the list of witnesses produced by the PTI chairman saying that they failed to prove their “relevance” in the criminal proceedings against him. It was also challenged in the High Court.
However, the PTI chairman once again approached the High Court and ordered the case to be transferred to another court.
On August 4, IHC Chief Farooq remanded the matter back to the trial court to review its jurisdiction and any procedural lapses by the Election Commission in filing the complaint.
On August 5, the trial court found the former prime minister guilty of false declaration of state gifts.
