ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday to have the full order of the trial court in the Toshakhana case suspended, instead of just his sentence.
In a plea filed through his counsel Sardar Latif Khosa, the former premier has pleaded to the court to also suspend the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order declaring him ineligible for contesting elections after being convicted in the Toshakhana case.
Furthermore, the PTI chief has requested the court to allow amending the appeal against his conviction and including the state as a respondent in it. The ECP had earlier objected to the PTI chairman’s plea not including the state as a respondent.
The PTI chief has maintained that the ECP’s notification should be suspended till a final ruling on his appeal against the Toshakhana conviction.
Trial court verdict
On August 5, the deposed prime minister was arrested and sent to Attock jail, hours after a trial court in Islamabad sentenced him to three years in prison while imposing on him a fine of Rs100,000 for making false declarations about his assets to the ECP.
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Additional Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar also disqualified the PTI chief for five years, apparently ending his prospects for taking part in the elections slated for November this year, provided that superior courts do not come to his rescue this time.
“This court finds it more than convincing that the complainant [ECP] has provided confidence inspiring, well-knitted and corroborated evidence and so the charge against the accused has successfully been proven,” the judge said in his 30-page verdict issued at the conclusion of a rather speedy trial initiated on a criminal complaint of the ECP.
Sentence suspended
However, on August 29, the IHC suspended the sentence awarded to the PTI chief, and ordered his release on bail. But the former prime minister remained behind bars as a judge had already ordered his detention in the cypher case.
“We feel that the applicant is entitled to the suspension of sentence and be released on bail,” said a two-member IHC bench, led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and including Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri. The bench ordered Imran’s release on bail against the surety bond of Rs100,000.
In its eight-page judgment, the bench said that the three-year imprisonment and Rs100,000 fine awarded by the trial court was of a short duration, therefore, the sentence had been suspended, adding that the PTI chairman should be released on bail.
The judgment also referred to the Qaim Ali Shah case, saying that the Supreme Court has held that it was not necessary to suspend the sentence in every case, rather it was the discretion of the high court to grant or deny bail.
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The judgment also mentioned the Supreme Court’s ruling on the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) appeal against the suspension of sentence of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Avenfield reference case.
Toshakhana case
In 2022, six members of the National Assembly filed a reference to the NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Asharf, claiming that the statements of assets and liabilities submitted by the PTI chief with respect to the years 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 were not correct.
The speaker referred the matter to the ECP under Article 63(2) of the Constitution. The ECP, after issuing notices to all, decided the matter on October 21, 2022 and disqualified the PTI chief under Article 63(1)(p) of the Constitution read with sections 137, 167 & 173 of the Election Act, 2017.
The ECP also directed its office to initiate proceedings against the PTI chief under section 190(2) of the Election Act, 2017 and filed a complaint in the Islamabad (West) sessions court against the PTI chief on November 7, 2022 for allegedly making a false declaration about his assets and liabilities.
