Daily Times

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday dismissed the plea of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, seeking suspension of trial court’s verdict in the Toshakhana case.

Chief Justice IHC Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri announced the decision. The court stated in its ruling that there is no provision in the law for reconsideration or modification of orders related to suspension.

It stated that the Supreme Court has clarified that the suspension of a sentence does not mean the suspension of a decision.

“In the instant case, no specific plea was raised and subsequent application has been made to cover up the omission. Even no extraordinary or exceptional circumstances were mentioned in the earlier application though they existed in the form of the notification dated 08.08.2023 when the application for suspension of the sentence was filed,” the court stated in its verdict.

The ruling has effectively eliminated the possibility for the ex-PTI chairman to participate in the upcoming general elections, scheduled to be held on February 8, 2024.

“Imran Khan’s request to suspend the decision in the Tosha Khana criminal case was rejected so that the disqualification would remain,” Khan’s lawyer and spokesman on legal affairs, Naeem Haider Panjutha, said on X.

Earlier this month, IHC had rejected a plea by Imran Khan to withdraw his appeal against his disqualification in the Toshakhana case. PTI’s lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar informed the courtroom that the former prime minister wanted to withdraw the appeal against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding his disqualification to refile it in the Lahore High Court (LHC). Justice Farooq, however, decided to retain Imran’s appeal against the ECP in the federal capital’s court.

The Toshakhana is a state department which retains gifts given by state officials, foreign diplomats and heads of different governments. According to the Constitution of Pakistan, the recipient of the gifts must report them to the cabinet division and pay an appropriate amount if the said recipient wants to keep it personally. Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Thursday claimed that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) was ‘safer’ for the party’s leaders than the province of Punjab.

While speaking to the media in Peshawar after his appearance at the high court, the newly elected PTI chairman said that he hoped that a party having “70 per cent popularity” across the country would not be kept out of the upcoming elections. “If this happens, a question mark would be raised over the polls,” he added.

“The judiciary is responsible for the protection of rights,” he maintained.