The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will hear PTI leader Imran Khan’s appeal to have the Toshakhana case trial court judgement suspended tomorrow (Monday).
PTI chief’s plea against Toshakhana sentence: A bench consisting of Chief Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Babar Sattar of the Islamabad High Court will hear the case along with objections from the Registrar’s Office.
Senior attorney Sardar Latif Khosa advanced the petition in accordance with section 561-A (saving of inherent power of high court) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
“It is a well-established legal principle that the High Court has extremely broad and illimitable inherent powers. As the omission in not recording the contentions of the learned counsel for the applicant/appellant at the bar praying for suspension of the impugned order dated 05.08.2023, and subsequent non-mentioning of the same in the order dated 28.08.2023, is an omission floating on the face of the order, it is a fit case to exercise the powers under Section 561-A Cr.P.C.’, the plea reads.
The IHC’s judgment on August 28 did not halt the trial court order; it only suspended the punishment of the PTI chief.
It sought the court to correct the Toshakhana judgement of August 5’s “omission of not recording the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner with regard to the suspension.”
The petition further claimed that despite the conviction not having reached “finality,” the ECP issued the disqualification decision in a hurry.
Toshakhana’s decision
On August 5, the District and Sessions Court sentenced the PTI chairman to a three-year prison term in the Toshakhana criminal case.
The court imposed a Rs 100,000 fine on the guilty PTI head, and it also declared the former prime minister ineligible to hold public office for a period of five years.
Further, The court, in its ruling, found the accused guilty of engaging in corrupt behavior and sentenced the PTI chairman to three years in prison.
However, Imran Khan “is found guilty of corrupt practises” and “deliberately submitted fake details [of Toshakhana gifts] to the ECP,” he claimed.
The court also declared the former prime minister ineligible to hold public office for a period of five years.