Daily Times

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday sought written arguments from the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) lawyer in a case seeking suspension of the trial court’s judgment against the PTI chairman in the Toshakhana criminal case.

An IHC bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri heard the appeal of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman. The PTI chairman’s lawyer, Latif Khosa Advocate, said that the trial court announced its verdict in Toshakhana case on August 5, and the ECP issued the notification for his client’s disqualification for five year on August 8.

He said the general elections were going to be held on February 8, 2024, and his client had also been told to conduct intra party elections within 20 days. If the decision was not suspended it would affect the basic rights of his client and his party, he added. Khosa argued that only the people of Pakistan had the power to choose their representatives as per the Constitution. He prayed the court to suspend the decision of trial court along with the sentence of the PTI chairman.

The court inquired whether the petitioner wanted to amend the verdict regarding suspension of his sentence. To this the lawyer answered in the affirmative and prayed the court to review its verdict regarding suspension of the PTI chairman’s sentence. ECP’s counsel Amjad Pervaiz opposed the plea of PTI chairman, saying the IHC had already announced its verdict on a petition. The petitioner, he said, did not give references of court decisions when the case was decided.

He prayed the court to grant a two-week time for arguments in the case. The chief justice remarked that the petitioner wanted the court to review the judgment. Amjad Pervaiz said that review could be done only if there was any mistake in a verdict and there was no error in the instant judgment. The court asked the ECP’s lawyer to give written arguments and references of court verdicts. The case was then adjourned.