ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday set aside a trial court verdict that had declared the Toshakhana reference being filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the Chairman PTI Imran Khan as maintainable for criminal proceedings.
Chief Justice IHC, Aamer Farooq ordered the trial court to retake the matter again for re-hearing.
The CJ also rejected Imran Khan’s appeal to move the case to another court and issued a notice for next week on a petition to restore the PTI Chief’s right of defence in the Toshakhana trial.
The detailed order of the IHC maintained that the matter was “remanded to the trial court for decision afresh,” adding that the apex court was informed that the case was fixed for final arguments in the trial court today (Friday).
The order further reads, “The petitioner shall ensure addressing of arguments positively on the issue when the matter is fixed by the court for final arguments. The trial court shall address the issues raised in the relevant petitions while deciding the matter,”.
The court also directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to inquire into the matter of specific alleged posts on the session judge’s Facebook account, involve everyone concerned in the matter and compile a report to the IHC deputy registrar within a fortnight.
Toshakhana: Supreme Court Dismisses Imran Khan’s Plea
Meanwhile, earlier on Friday morning, the Supreme Court of Pakistan dismissed Imran’s request against trial proceedings related to the Toshakhana complaint after he withdrew his petition.
Imran was charged in the Toshakhana case on May 10. However, Justice Farooq had stayed the proceeding and directed Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Humayun Dilawar to re-assess the case in seven days, keeping in view eight legal questions he framed to decide the maintainability of the Toshakhana reference.
The questions had included whether the complaint was filed on behalf of the ECP by a duly authorised person, whether the decision of the ECP on Oct 21, 2022, was a valid authorisation to any officer of the Commission to file a complaint, and if the question of authorisation was a concern of fact and evidence and could be ratified subsequently during the proceedings.
However, when the sessions judge had re-assessed the case, Imran Khan’s counsel Khawaja Haris did not appear before the court in three consecutive hearings to defend his client’s stance.
Finally, on July 9, ADSJ Dilawar while ruling that the reference was maintainable, revived the stalled proceedings and summoned the witnesses for testimony.
A session court had last month declared that the ECP reference against the PTI chief was maintainable. The decision was subsequently challenged in the IHC.
