Trial to start on 12th as sessions court Rejects plea against ECP's complaint

Trial to start on 12th as sessions court Rejects plea against ECP's complaint

Islamabad News Updates   Toshakhana case Details

In a significant development, a trial court in Islamabad on Saturday an- nounced starting criminal proceed- ings against former prime minister Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case

The former PM for not disclosing ing the case till July 10 (Monday). The the gifts that he received from the ECP's counsel, however, opposed the Toshakhana in his statement of as- request. sets, the judge expressed displeasure over Haris' absence. on July 12 as it rejected the Pakistan Interestingly, the PTI Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief's plea counsels did not present against maintainability of a com- their arguments as the plaint filed by the polls supervisory court rejected their Islamabad District and Sessions request to adjourn the Court (West) Judge Humayun Dilawar matter till Monday authority.

issued the order four days after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered him to decide the PTI's application afresh "after hearing the parties with detailed reasons keeping in view the provisions of Article 10-A of the Constitution". Interestingly, the PTI counsels did not present their arguments as the court rejected their request to adjourn the matter till Monday due to absence of lead counsel Khawaja Haris.

On Saturday, when the court re- sumed hearing the PTI's petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) complaint that sought criminal proceedings against He noted that the court had been hearing the case for the last three days but Haris had not attended any hear- ing. "The court is showing unprec- edented restraint but the petitioner is taking undue advantage of this re- straint," he said to Haris's associate Gohar Ali Khan advocate. "Present arguments at 11:30am or I will decide the matter without hear- ing you," the judge noted.

The judge observed that the track re- cord of the accused, Imran, was not good. "Tell me the date when the accused appeared in the court in the Toshakhana case?" he asked.

Judge Dilawar said the IHC had given "such a big relief" to Imran. "All eyes are on this case. Due to this case, we have stopped hearing other

cases," he added

Later, the court adjourned for a few hours. When the judge resumed Provincial Coordination

proceedings at 11:30am, Haris, who was supposed to present arguments against the ECP's complaint, had still not arrived.

PTI chief's counsel Gohar told the court that the ECP's counsel might present his arguments first. "We will present our augments on Monday," he said. ECP's counsel Amjad Pervaiz read the ECP's October 21, 2022 order as well as the IHC's July 4 order. On October 21, 2022, a four-member Aminul Haque and Qamar Zaman Kaira.

"Prime Minister Shehbaz sharif has formed a commit- tee to be headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM)