By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A sessions court in Islamabad on Tuesday deferred the indictment of former prime minister and Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case after the PTI chief skipped hearing indicating the health issues.
On Tuesday, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf legal team filed a petition on behalf of former Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking exemption from personal appearance due to health issues. Imran Khan is healing from injuries he received in a shooting on November 3 at a rally in Gujranwala. The judge sought surety bonds from the PTI attorney. He told the court that the bonds had been given earlier in the day.
The court questioned, “How can we frame charges if exemption pleas are filed repeatedly? Imran Khan’s lawyer, Barrister Ali Zafar, argued that they had yet to be provided attested copies of the evidence and complaint.
At this, the ECP lawyer said they had provided the documents to the court. However, the judge asked the lawyer to provide all the required material to the defence.
During the course of proceedings, the ECP lawyer asked, “Why did PTI’s Chairman not appear before the court? We have witnessed him dancing on the container.”
At this, Ali Zafar warned the ECP representative from making such statements. He also pleaded with the court to fix any date after February 15 for Imran’s appearance. “Give us a date when Khan will appear, “the judge asked. “He will come if he can,” the counsel responded.
Toshakhana case
The ECP filed the reference last year in November, pleading with the court to proceed against Imran Khan under criminal law for allegedly misleading government officials about the gifts he received from foreign countries and dignitaries during his tenure as PM.
The ECP had requested that Imran Khan be convicted for the offenses mentioned under sections 173 and 167 of the Elections Act 2017.
It added that according to the record, the state gifts were bought from the Toshakhana for 21.5 million rupees based on their estimated value. In comparison, they were valued at around 108 million rupees.
On January 31, the judge directed Imran Khan to submit surety bonds of 20,000 rupees to ensure his appearance today for indictment in the case.
