Islamabad(Special Report/Affan Ahmed)Islamabad High Court has ordered the release of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in Tosha Khana case.
Chief Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb held the hearing today, Barrister Ali Zafar appeared in court on behalf of founder PTI and Bushra Bibi, while Prosecutor Amjad Parvez appeared in court on behalf of National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Appeared face to face.
During the hearing, the Chief Justice remarked that Ali Sahib, if you give arguments on the appeals, then we cannot hear you, the appeals are being heard in the cipher case, both the appeals cannot be heard together.
On this, Barrister Ali Tafar said that Salman Safdar had said that he would give arguments for half an hour on cipher appeals, let me give arguments in this case today.
Chief Justice said that if you want to argue against the suspension of the sentence, we will hear it, and we will schedule the appeal against the sentence after Eid.
The prosecutor said, “We have reviewed the verdict. This is a case of sentence suspension.” At this, the court observed that the “NAB’s stance is highly commendable”.
Zafar then urged the court to hear his arguments in the Toshakhana appeal as well, contending that both were “entirely different cases”.
However, Justice Farooq said the cipher appeal proceedings would conclude within the next or two hearings, after which the Toshakhana one could be heard. “We can hear your petition seeking suspension of the sentence,” he stated.
At this point during the hearing, Justice Aurangzeb asked if the NAB wanted to present any stance on suspending the sentence. To this, the prosecutor replied, “There is no objection to the suspension of the sentence [but] the appeals cannot be heard right now.”
Here, Imran’s counsel requested the court to suspend the conviction along with the sentence, at which Justice Aurangzeb observed, “That matter is before the Supreme Court; let’s leave it for now.”
Barrister Zafar then said, “The courts are standing upright for justice. The entire nation is standing with the courts. The scales of justice have started heading in the right direction.”
He contended that there was “no evidence” behind the conviction and that the jail trial was “unlawful as our counsels were not allowed to appear”. “Our lawyers were made to leave the jail and were not allowed to cross-examine either,” the PTI lawyer said.
“Such cases are considered mistrial and unconstitutional in the history,” Zafar said
It should be noted that on January 31, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to 14 years in prison with hard labor in the Tosha Khana reference.
Judge Mohammad Basheer of the Accountability Court Islamabad while pronouncing the Tosha Khana reference verdict in Adiala Jail also disqualified Imran Khan and his wife from holding any public office for 10 years.
In the reference, it was alleged that Imran Khan did not disclose the income earned by selling gifts from the Tosha Khana under assets.
The reference filed under Article 63 of the Constitution sought the disqualification of Imran Khan under Article 62 (one) (f).
During the hearing of the case, Imran Khan’s lawyer, Barrister Ali Zafar, had taken the stand that disqualification under Section 62 (one) (f) is only the jurisdiction of the judiciary and according to the Supreme Court, the Election Commission is not a court.
Imran Khan had submitted his written response to the Election Commission on September 7 in connection with the Tosha Khana reference. According to the response, 58 gifts were given to the Prime Minister and his wife between August 1, 2018 and December 31, 2021.
It was reported that these gifts mostly consisted of flower vases, tablecloths, decorative items, wall decorations, small carpets, wallets, perfumes, rosaries, calligraphy, frames, paperweights and pen holders, but they included watches, pens. , cufflinks, rings, bracelets/lockets were also included.
In response, he said that among all these gifts, there were only 14 items worth more than 30 thousand rupees, which he bought by paying money according to the regular procedure.
In his reply, Imran Khan admitted that he had sold 4 gifts during his tenure as Prime Minister.
The former prime minister said that after paying Rs 21.6 crore, he got around Rs 5.8 million from the government treasury from the sale of gifts, which included a watch, cufflinks, an expensive pen and a ring. While the other 3 gifts included 4 Rolex watches.
Therefore, on October 21, 2022, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the Tosha Khana reference filed against him.
The Election Commission has disqualified Imran Khan under sub-clause ‘P’ of Clause ‘A’ of Article 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan, while his disqualification period under the said Article of the Constitution will continue till the end of the current assembly.
According to the decision, Imran Khan was also de-seated from the National Assembly.
