ISLAMABAD, July 12, 2023: An additional district and sessions judge on Wednesday expressed his anger at the PTI chairman’s absence in the Toshakhana case hearings, noting that he had appeared once before the court during the seven-month-long trial.
Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Humayun Dilawar became angry as the hearing of the reference restarted a week after the court ruled that the case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the PTI chairman was maintainable.
The PTI chief had challenged the sessions court’s decision in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) yesterday, arguing that the ECP did not follow the prescribed procedure in filing the complaint and requested the court to set aside the sessions court decision.
His counsel Niazullah Niazi informed the court that his client had challenged the sessions court’s July 8 verdict in the IHC, and the hearing for the plea was scheduled for today.
The judge angrily asked where the suspect was. Niazi stated that he wanted to file a plea for his client’s exemption from appearing in court and requested a two-day adjournment of the hearing.
The judge ordered the counsel to provide a copy of the IHC verdict, and adjourned the hearing till 12:30pm.
Later, the court adjourned the case for Thursday (tomorrow).