In a big relief to former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday declared the Toshakhana case against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief inadmissible, reported PTI citing ARY News. The 70-year-old leader was indicted in the Toshakhana case on May 10 by Additional Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar, who rejected objections about the admissibility of the case.
Khan then moved the IHC, which had stayed criminal proceedings on the case till June 8. After the hearing began, Justice Aamer on June 23 reserved his verdict on the petition, saying that he would look into the matter after Eid ul-Adha.
On Tuesday, Chief Justice Amir Farooq declared the Toshakhana case against Khan inadmissible, ARY News reported, as quoted by PTI.
Notably, the Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.
Khan was accused of selling the state gifts received by him and it turned out to be a major issue in national politics after the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified the former premier. He was disqualified for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”, reported PTI.
As per the report, he has been accused of misusing his 2018 to 2022 premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than Rs140 million (USD 635,000).
In his petition, the PTI chief objected to filing a complaint after a specified period. The report stated that his lawyer, Khawaja Haris, maintained that a complaint could only be filed within four months of submitting the return.
Khan’s lawyer Gohar Khan has termed the verdict a "victory".
"An appeal was filed against the decision of the session judge in the Toshakhana case," he said, as quoted in the report.
Notably, as per the report, the former Pak PM chief submitted a petition to the court, seeking Justice Aamer's recusal from the case a day earlier.
In the petition, the cricketer-turned-politician sought the transfer of the two Toshakhana cases to another bench in the interest of a “fair and impartial” trial. The petition also named the district election commission as the respondent.