PTI Chairman Imran Khan has taken legal action by filing a petition with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to seek the suspension of the trial court’s verdict in the Toshakhana case.
This development comes more than a month after the IHC had suspended Imran Khan’s three-year sentence in the same Toshakhana case. On August 5, a trial court in Islamabad had found the PTI chief guilty of “corrupt practices” related to concealing details of state gifts, leading to his sentencing to three years in prison.
Notably, Imran Khan was initially ordered to be arrested by the capital police chief, but he was apprehended by the Punjab police, who subsequently took him to the Attock district jail. The Supreme Court later acknowledged “procedural defects” in Imran Khan’s conviction by the trial court.
After the IHC suspended his sentence in the Toshakhana case, the government detained Imran Khan in the cipher case. He has been in judicial remand since then, with the remand extended until October 10. On September 26, he was relocated from Attock jail to Adiala jail following IHC directives.
In his latest legal move, Imran Khan, represented by senior lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa, filed a petition under section 561-A (saving of inherent power of the high court) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The petition aims to rectify the order dated August 28, which suspended the operation of the previous judgment and sentence. It also requests the IHC to suspend the operation of the same order until a final decision on the appeal is reached. The plea additionally seeks permission to make the state a respondent in the appeal.
The petition highlights that during arguments, Imran Khan’s counsel, Khosa, had specifically requested the IHC to suspend the operation of the Toshakhana verdict and sentence. It cites relevant sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and asserts that the IHC has the authority to issue orders to secure the ends of justice.
The petition underscores the omission of the counsel’s contentions during the IHC proceedings and argues that this omission has caused prejudice to Imran Khan’s rights. It also points out the alleged mala fide of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in disqualifying the PTI chief from contesting elections. According to the plea, the conviction/sentence had not yet attained finality when the ECP acted, and there are ongoing efforts to remove Imran Khan from the head of the party.
The petition further alleges that the entire PTI leadership is either incarcerated or facing various challenges, including false cases, and emphasizes the need for justice in this context.
