 Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case on Tuesday){kind=link}
An Islamabad sessions court postponed the indictment of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case on Tuesday.
Judge Zafar Iqbal presided over the hearing, and Sessions Ali Bukhari and Gohar Ali Khan represented the PTI chairman. Saad Hasan represented the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The former PM’s attorney asked the judge to temporarily excuse Imran from appearing in court due to his medical condition during the hearing. The judge wanted to know when Imran would be coming back.
“Imran will arrive if his health allows. The counsel informed the court that he was adhering to the physicians’ orders.
The court granted the PTI chief’s request for exemption from personal appearance and ordered the ECP to deliver certified documents to their counterparts.
A local court set today, February 7, as the indictment date for Khan last week.
Imran Khan’s arrest warrant request was denied by the ECP attorney at the case hearing by Judge Zafer Iqbal, who instead chose to charge the PTI leader with a crime in connection with the Toshakhana case.
Legislators from the ruling coalition filed the reference last year, stating that Imran had not disclosed information about the items he had received from the Toshakhana and the money from their reported sales.
Background
A five-person ECP panel, led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, dismissed the former prime minister from the case on October 21. The panel included Nisar Durrani, Shah Muhammad Jatoi, Babar Bharwana, and former Justice Ikramullah Khan.
A person is “for the time being disqualified from being elected or chosen as a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) or of a provincial assembly under any law for the time being in force,” according to Article 63(1)(p), which the ECP used to disqualify the PTI head.
The ECP discovered that the former PM engaged in corrupt behavior and submitted a fake affidavit. According to the judgment, the respondent breached the rules outlined in sections 137, 167, and 173 of the Elections Act, 2017, “intentionally and maliciously.”
Imran had to face criminal charges for making a false declaration, according to the ruling. Section 190(2) of the Elections Act of 2017 mandates the office to file a lawsuit and take further action, as ruled by the ECP.