ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday set aside the trial court’s decision to dismiss Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s plea to declare the Tosh Khana case inadmissible.
Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamir Farooq delivered the verdict on the PTI chief’s petition, which was reserved on June 23.
Pronouncing the short order, the judge remanded the matter to the trial court, ordered that PTI’s counsel’s arguments be reheard and reconsidered. The IHC ordered the trial court to decide the PTI chairman’s plea in the Toshakhana case within seven days.
Khan was indicted in the Tosha Khana case on May 10 by Additional Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar, who rejected objections to the admissibility of the case. The PTI chief then approached the IHC, which stayed criminal proceedings in the case till June 8.
After the hearing resumed in June, Justice Aamir reserved judgment on the application on June 23, saying that he would look into the matter after Eid-ul-Azha.
In his petition, the PTI chairman objected to filing the complaint after the prescribed period. His lawyer Khawaja Haris said that a complaint can be filed within four months of submitting the return. In the written order issued by the court, the judge wrote that important legal issues could not be resolved by the trial court’s decision. The judge in his order further said that it would be appropriate for the trial court to decide on the application after hearing the arguments. The order further said that it is evident from the arguments of the parties that the court pronounced its decision without going into details.
It is important to know the answers to eight different questions, including the jurisdiction of the case, the top IHC judge wrote, adding that the petition was rejected with little reasoning, and important legal questions and issues were left unresolved.
A day ago, the PTI chief had submitted an application in the court requesting Justice Aamir to be removed from the case. In the petition, the former prime minister sought transfer of the two Tosha Khanna cases to another bench in the interest of a “fair and impartial” trial.
