Toshakhana Case: In a big relief to former Pakistan PM Imran Khan, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday suspended his conviction and three-year sentence in the Toshakhana case and granted him bail, reported Dawn. It added that a divisional bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri pronounced the verdict after reserving it on Monday. Notably, the cricketer-turned-politician was sentenced to three years of jail in the matter.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman was sentenced on charges of unlawfully selling state gifts acquired by him and his family during his 2018-2022 tenure. Pakistan election commission has also barred him from politics for five years, preventing him from contesting an upcoming election.
"The copy of the judgment will be available shortly … all we are saying now is that [Imran’s] request has been approved," Justice Farooq was quoted as saying by Dawn.
PTI chairman’s aide on legal affairs Naeem Haider Panjotha also confirmed the news on X (formerly Twitter) He tweeted, "The CJ has accepted our request, suspended the sentence and said a detailed decision would be provided later."
According to the news agency PTI, the hearing was adjourned on Friday after the lawyer representing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Amjad Pervez failed to appear due to illness. On Thursday, Khan's lawyer Latif Khosa completed his argument against the conviction and asserted that the verdict was given in haste and full of shortcomings.
He urged the court to set aside the sentence but the defence team demanded more time to complete its arguments. Many believed that a favourable ruling for Khan might come after the Supreme Court highlighted faults in the judgment convicting Khan.
Notably, the top court of Pakistan had last week acknowledged “procedural defects” in Khan's conviction but opted to wait for the IHC decision on the former prime minister's plea.
The case was launched last year in October on the complaint of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) which had earlier disqualified Khan in the same case.
After a hearing spanning over months, Judge Humayun Dilawar of the Islamabad-based sessions court on August 5 awarded a three-year sentence to Khan for hiding the proceeds he got from the sale of state gifts.
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