ISLAMABAD , July 8, 2023: A district and sessions court on Saturday upheld its previous decision by declaring the Toshakhana case against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman admissible.
Additional Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar announced the verdict reserved earlier in the day after he rejected a plea filed by PTI lawyer Gohar Khan, seeking adjournment of the case till Monday. The case has been adjourned till July 12.
During today’s hearing, the judge expressed resentment over non-appearance of Khwaja Harris, the main counsel for the former prime minister, saying the court showed exemplary leniency in this case.
He said Mr Harris had been summoned to submit arguments after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) referred the case to the trial court and gave seven days to decide on maintainability of the Toshakhana case.
Earlier, Gohar Khan submitted two petitions seeking exemption from appearance for the PTI chief and adjournment of case till July 10.
However, the petitions were opposed by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) lawyer Saad Hassan, saying the PTI chief had filed exemption pleas multiple times.
At one point, the judge remarked that Khawaja Harris did not appear before the court even once in the last three days. He later reserved the decision which is expected to be announced later today.
On July 4, the IHC nullified the decision of the trial court that had turned down the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman’s plea challenging the admissibility of the Toshakhana case.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq announced the verdict reserved on June 23 after hearing arguments on the petition of the former prime minister against the trial court’s ruling. The chief justice sent the matter back to the trial court, ordering it to again hear the arguments of the PTI. He gave the trial court seven days to decide the PTI chairman’s plea in the Toshakhana case.
The petition had been filed after the PTI chief was indicted in the case on May 10 – two days after the high court had stopped criminal proceedings in the Toshakhana case.
On May 5, Islamabad’s Additional Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar had announced that charges would be framed against the PTI chairman on May 10 in the Toshakhana case.
During the hearing, the former PM’s lawyer had argued on two pleas stating that the ECP’s petition was “non-maintainable” and that the sessions court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the matter.
However, the judge rejected both the requests and summoned the PTI chief in person for the indictment.
On May 10, Judge Humayun Dilawar indicted him during court proceedings that were held at the guest house of the Police Lines headquarters at H-11.
For security reasons, the commissioner’s office had given the status of court to the Police Lines. When the court indicted him in the Toshakhana case, he refused to sign the documents while denying the committing of crime.
The Case
Last year, a reference was filed against him by lawmakers from the ruling coalition accusing him of not sharing the details of gifts he retained from Toshakhana in his assets declarations and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had concluded in October last year that the PTI chief filed false statements regarding the gifts.
The electoral watchdog subsequently disqualified him for being dishonest and corrupt and approached the district and sessions court seeking criminal proceedings against the PTI chief for allegedly misleading officials about the gifts.