Tag: islamabad high court

Toshakhana corruption case | Islamabad High Court suspends Imran Khan’s three-year sentence

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The Islamabad High Court on August 29 suspended Imran Khan’s three-year sentence in the Toshakhana corruption case and ordered his release from jail, in a major relief to Pakistan’s embattled former Prime Minister ahead of the upcoming general elections.

A Division Bench comprising Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri announced the much-anticipated verdict which was reserved on August 28.

“Decision of District Court [has been] suspended by IHC,” Mr. Khan’s party — Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) — said in a short WhatsApp message.

The court said that a copy of the judgment will be available shortly.

“The copy of the judgment will be available shortly … all we are saying now is that [Imran’s] request has been approved,” Justice Farooq said.

Aleema Khan, front centre, and Uzma Khanum, rear centre, sisters of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan arrive at the Islamabad High Court in Islamabad, Pakistan on August 29, 2023.
| Photo Credit:
AP

The Bench also ordered to release the 70-year-old leader on the production of surety bonds worth Pakistani rupees 100,000.

Mr. Khan’s legal counsel Naeem Haider Panjotha posted on X, formerly Twitter: “The CJ has accepted our request, suspended the sentence and said a detailed decision would be provided later.” Mr. Khan’s sentence has been suspended but he was not being released as a special court holding his trial in the Official Secrets Act directed the Attock Jail authorities to keep him in the “judicial lockup” and produce him on August 30 before the court in connection with the cipher case.

Former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is already in custody in the same case.

The case launched last week alleged that Khan and others were involved in the violation of the secret laws of the country.

The Bench reserved the verdict on August 28 after the rival lawyers concluded their arguments on the suspension of the conviction and three-year sentence handed down to Mr. Khan by Additional District and Session Judge, Islamabad, Humayun Dilawar on August 5 — a move that barred him from contesting general elections.

The former cricketer-turned-politician was sentenced on charges of unlawfully selling state gifts acquired by him and his family during his 2018-2022 tenure. He was also barred from politics for five years, preventing him from contesting an upcoming election.

Lawyers and supporters of Pakistani imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan react after court decision, in Islamabad, Pakistan on August 29, 2023.

Lawyers and supporters of Pakistani imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan react after court decision, in Islamabad, Pakistan on August 29, 2023.
| Photo Credit:
AP

General elections are scheduled to be held in Pakistan within 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly, which was prematurely dissolved on August 10 by President Arif Alvi. However, the polls are likely be delayed as the government has announced that the elections could take place only after a new census was completed and new constituency boundaries drawn.

The exercise could take about four months to complete and means that polls may be delayed till next year.

The government’s announcement had come on the same day when Mr. Khan was arrested after being sentenced to three years in prison for “corrupt practices”.

Mr. Khan challenged his conviction within days and the IHC began a formal hearing on August 22. It adjourned the case on Friday after the lawyer representing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) did not appear due to illness.

Mr. Khan’s lawyer Latif Khosa completed his argument on Thursday, asserting that the verdict was given in haste and was full of shortcomings. He urged the court to set aside the sentence but the defence team demanded more time to complete its arguments.

His party welcomed the IHC verdict, with party Information Secretary Raoof Hasan saying that Mr. Khan’s arrest in any other case after the suspension of his sentence in the Toshakhana case would be “ill-intentioned and mala fide”.

We are fortunate to be witnessing the re-scripting of Pakistan’s political and legal history,” he said, adding that “justice shall prevail”.

However, former premier Shehbaz Sharif expressed its displeasure at the court’s order saying that the sentence was suspended and “not terminated”.

“The Chief Justice of Pakistan’s message of ’good to see you’ and ‘wish you good luck’ has reached the IHC,” he said, claiming that “everyone knew about the verdict before it was even announced”.

“This moment is a matter of concern for our justice system,” Mr. Shehbaz Sharif said. “If a clear message is received from the higher judiciary, what else should the subordinate court do?” Separately, a three-member Supreme Court Bench led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail is also set to resume hearing petitions against the Toshakhana case.

On Wednesday, the apex court after hearing various petitions against the Toshakhana case observed that there were “shortcomings” in the judgment of the sessions court.

The panel observed that the verdict was given in haste and without giving the right of defence to the accused. “Prima facie, there are shortcomings in the trial court verdict,” the Chief Justice said.

The apex court had also stated it would wait for the IHC hearing before giving its judgment. It resumed the hearing on Thursday but adjourned it without fixing any date after it was told that the IHC was holding a hearing.

The Toshakhana case was filed by ruling party lawmakers in 2022 in the ECP, alleging that Mr. Khan concealed the proceeds from the sale of state gifts.

The ECP first disqualified Mr. Khan and then filed a case of criminal proceedings in a sessions court which convicted him and subsequently, Khan was sent to jail.

Mr. Khan is currently in Attock Jail following his arrest from his Lahore home.

The case alleges that Mr. Khan had “deliberately concealed” details of the gifts he retained from the Toshakhana — a repository where presents handed to government officials from foreign officials are kept — during his time as the Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022 and proceeds from their reported sales.

As per Toshakhana rules, gifts/presents and other such materials received by persons to whom these rules apply shall be reported to the Cabinet Division.

According to reports, Mr. Khan received 58 gifts worth more than ₹140 million from world leaders during his three-and-a-half-year stint and retained all of them either by paying a negligible amount or even without any payment.

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Imran Khan produced before special court; Anti-corruption watchdog seeks 14-day physical remand

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 Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was on May 10 sent on an eight-day remand to the anti-corruption watchdog while a sessions court indicted him in a separate graft case, amid violent protests that left at least seven people dead and prompted deployment of the army here and in three provinces.

The 70-year-old chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was taken into custody by the paramilitary Rangers on Tuesday on the orders of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) by barging into a room of the Islamabad High Court.

On Wednesday, Khan was produced in the Anti-Accountability Court No. 1 presided by judge Muhammad Bashir, the same judge who had convicted former premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam in a corruption case of having properties in London.

In its verdict, the court handed over Khan for an eight-day remand to the NAB.


Also Read | Imran Khan | The cornered captain 

During the hearing, the NAB lawyers requested the court to grant a 14-day remand of Khan to probe the allegations against him in the Al-Qadir Trust case in which he is accused of looting Rs 50 billion of the national treasury. But Khan’s lawyer opposed the plea and asked the judge to release him as the charges were fabricated.

In his statement, Khan told the accountability court that he was fearful for his life.

“I have not been to the washroom in 24 hours,” he said.

“I am afraid I will meet the same fate as ‘Maqsood Chaprasi’,” Khan said, referring to a witness in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s money laundering case who died due to a cardiac arrest last year. Khan’s party had termed the witness’ death ‘mysterious’.

Supporters of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan block a road as protest against the arrest of their leader, in Peshawar, Pakistan on May 10, 2023.
| Photo Credit:
AP

Separately, the District and Sessions Court indicted Khan in the Toshakhana case.

Judge Humayun Dilawar conducted the hearing in the makeshift court set up in the New Police Guest House along with the ATC No. 1.

Khan was present in the court and pleaded not guilty when the charges were read. He also refused to sign the court documents, according to Geo News channel.

The case was filed last year by the Election Commission of Pakistan and Khan had skipped several hearings in the past months. The charges are about the allegation that Khan concealed the proceeds of sale from the state gifts.

The New Police Guest House located in the high security premises of Police Lines Headquarters at Sector H-11/1 area of Islamabad was declared as a court for the purpose of hearing two cases against the former cricketer-turned-politician.

Citing sources, Geo News said that a medical report submitted to the NAB showed that Khan has been declared fit.

PTI Senior Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Secretary General Asad Umar went to the Islamabad High Court to file a plea against the police decision to stop them from seeing Khan.

However, before any legal process was launched, Umar was arrested by the anti-terrorism squad of Islamabad police as two new cases have been launched against him for the violence after Khan’s arrest. Later, media reports said Qureshi and former Punjab governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema were also arrested.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army warned Khan’s supporters against taking the law into their hands and said it showed “patience and restraint and exercised extreme tolerance,” not even caring about its reputation, in the larger interest of the country.

In a terse statement, the Army said that May 9 will be remembered as a “black chapter”, referring to the protests “targeting army property and installations.” “This group wearing a political cloak” has done what enemies could not do in 75 years, all “in the lust for power,” the army said.

It warned that any further attack on the army, including all law enforcement agencies, military and state installations and properties will be severely retaliated.

Meanwhile, clashes between protesters and security forces in the last 24 hours have left at least seven people dead and nearly 300 others injured across Pakistan as the army was deployed in the country’s capital, Islamabad as well as in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces to maintain law and order.

Prime Minister Sharif on Wednesday warned those taking the law into to their own hands to abide by the law otherwise they will be dealt with an iron fist.

“Imran Khan and PTI caused severe damages to sensitive installations of the country. Such scene had never been witnessed in 75 years. Many lives were endangered. Even ambulances were set on fire. Like enemy, installations of armed forces were attacked,” he said in a televised address to the nation.

Also Read | Imran Khan likely to be in custody of anti-graft agency for ‘four to five days’: Report

“I urge miscreants to abide by law otherwise they will face strict action. No one will be allowed to conspire against Pakistan. We will never let this conspiracy succeed,” he warned.

According to Khan’s party, one person has been killed each in Lahore, Faisalabad and Burewala cities of Punjab. It said over 150 protesters have been injured in Punjab alone.

In Peshawar, at least four persons were killed and 27 others injured in clashes between protestors and police, a spokesperson of Lady Reading Hospital confirmed.

Protestors also set fire to the building of state-run Radio Pakistan, causing severe damage to the studios, auditorium and other facilities, Director General Radio Pakistan Peshawar Tahir Hassan said.

The office of state-owned Associated Press of Pakistan located in the building was ransacked and damaged.

In Islamabad, the protestors clashed with police and the Srinagar Highway linking the national capital with its international airport remained blocked for several hours.

IG Islamabad Akbar Nasir Khan told the media that at least five police personnel were injured.

In Sindh, the government imposed Section 144 to control the situation and police arrested around 270 people.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said that internet services across the country will remain suspended for an indefinite period. The services were shut down as protests erupted after Khan’s arrest.



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Pakistan’s ex-PM Imran Khan again evades court hearing in Toshakhana case, avoids arrest

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Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 7, 2023 failed to appear before an Islamabad court for the fourth time in the Toshakhana case even as the court refused to cancel the arrest warrant against him.

The Former Premier’s Counsel Sher Afzal Marwat, who appeared before the court, said 70-year-old Khan was unwell and “disabled” after being injured in the Wazirabad attack.

Mr. Khan has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana, and selling them for profit.

Mr. Marwat said a “global spectacle” was created regarding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, whose party on March 6, 2023 challenged in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) the arrest warrant issued against him for not appearing before an Islamabad district and sessions court.

Requesting the court to give a date next week for hearing the matter, Mr. Marwat maintained that he would provide the power of attorney within “a day or two”.

Taking to Twitter on March 6, 2023, Mr. Khan slammed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Government and said it was behind a total of 76 legal cases – so far – raised against him.

“This is what happens when a bunch of criminals is imposed on a nation by those who are devoid of intelligence, morality, and ethics,” he tweeted.

The ousted premier’s lawyer said that it would be easier for the PTI chief to appear before the district court next week.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) counsel requested that the hearing be adjourned to March 9, 2023, which Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha substantiated and said the cricketer-turned-politician will have to appear before the IHC on that date.

“Imran Khan will definitely appear in Islamabad High Court on March 9,” Mr. Ranjha reiterated.

Also read: Islamabad court reserves verdict on Imran Khan’s plea seeking suspension of arrest warrant in Toshakhana case

Judge Zafar Iqbal then remarked that “in other words, Imran Khan will not appear before the session court even on March 9”.

Taking the stand, Mr. Ranjha urged that action be taken against Khan and questioned if a common citizen was also given such relief from appearing before a court.

“Imran Khan only appears before the courts when he wants to,” said Mr. Ranja.

Arguing that Mr. Khan was mocking the legal system, Mr. Ranjha added that on behalf of Mr. Khan, a continuous exemption application was filed, and the exemption was also granted.

The court maintained that the case would be processed according to the law.

The ECP lawyer said that Thursday should be the deadline for submitting the PTI lawyer’s letter and conducting the next hearing.

Also read: Pakistan court issues non-bailable arrest warrant against Imran Khan in Toshakhana case

Directing Mr. Marwat to submit his letter, the additional sessions Judge then adjourned the hearing till 2 pm.

Stating that Mr. Khan went to other courts but did not appear before them, the Judge asked his lawyer to name a case that had gone on for so long before the additional sessions court.

The PTI Chief on March 6, 2023 moved the IHC against the non-bailable arrest warrant ordered by the Islamabad sessions court in the Toshakhana case.

His lawyer Ali Bukhari in the petition before the IHC requested a cancellation of the warrant, arguing that it was “illegal” to issue a non-bailable warrant.

The IHC then gave Mr. Khan another opportunity to choose a date to appear before the courts in the Toshakhana (gift depository) reference.

The court also remarked that the warrants were not issued for arrests but to frame charges against Mr. Khan.

“You appear in court for the framing of charges and then request for an exemption,” Justice Mr. Farooq said. “The law is the same for everyone. What can the court do? “The court has to adopt a legal procedure,” he added, maintaining that Mr. Khan had to appear in the sessions court today (March 6, 2023) but he did not.

“You tell, when will he appear?” the Judge asked. “Imran Khan has to appear before me as well. He can come on March 9 and appear before the sessions court too.”

Here, the PTI lawyer said that Mr. Khan had severe security threats to which the judge replied that the court’s judges received threats “every day” and asked if he should shut down the IHC because of it.

Mr. Khan’s lawyer stated that he would consult with the PTI chief and get “instructions” on what to do next “within half an hour”. The counsel announced that he would speak to Khan over video-link due to “security concerns”.

The court adjourned the hearing for half an hour.

The Islamabad sessions court had earlier on March 7, 2023 rejected the request to cancel Mr. Khan’s arrest warrant.

Mr. Khan had argued that the withdrawal of the summons would enable him “a fair opportunity to appear and defend himself” in the case, but the Justice said the PTI chief “willfully avoided” his appearance.

Mr. Khan has earlier thrice skipped indictment hearings in the Islamabad sessions court in the case.

In his assets declarations, he is accused of concealing details of the gifts he retained from the Toshakhana — a repository where presents handed to government officials from foreign officials are kept.

The Islamabad sessions court judge had on February 28, 2023 issued arrest warrants against Mr. Khan and adjourned the hearing till March 7, 2023.

On March 5, 2023 an Islamabad police team was sent to Mr. Khan’s Zaman Park residence in Lahore with the court summons. However, the police returned empty-handed after the PTI chief evaded the arrest.

Separately, Islamabad Police on Monday registered a case against Khan and 150 of his party workers for obstructing law enforcement agency officials from implementing a court order against the ousted prime minister in the Toshakhana case.

The police faced stiff resistance from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activists outside Mr. Khan’s Zaman Park residence.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in October last year ruled that he made “false statements and incorrect declarations” regarding Toshakhana gifts.

The ECP, later on, asked the Islamabad sessions court to proceed against Mr. Khan under criminal law for hiding the sale of gifts.

Mr. Khan was ousted from power in April 2022 after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a U.S.-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan.

Mr. Khan, who came to power in 2018, is the only Pakistani Prime Minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament.

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