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August 04 , 2023
The court sentenced Imran Khan to three years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs100,000 on him for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts - Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images
Imran Khan Arrested as Court Declares Him Guilty of “Corrupt Practices” in Toshakhana Case
By Umer Burney
Shortly after an Islamabad trial court declared him guilty of “corrupt practices” in the Toshakhana case, PTI Chairman Imran Khan, was arrested by Punjab police on Saturday afternoon from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore.
PTI’s Punjab Chapter confirmed the reports with a tweet: “Imran Khan is being moved to Kot Lakhpat Jail.”
The court sentenced Imran Khan — who was absent from court — to three years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs100,000 on him for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts. His lawyers were also not present.
Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Humayun Dilawar ruled that charges against the former prime minister in the case were proven.
“Imran Khan deliberately submitted fake details [of Toshakhana gifts] to the ECP and is found guilty of corrupt practices,” he stated and sent the PTI chief to jail for three years under Section 174 of the Election Act.
The law states that a person guilty of the offence of corrupt practice shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with a fine which may extend to Rs100,000 or both.
ADSJ Dilawar also directed that a copy of the order should be sent to the Islamabad police chief for the execution of the court orders.
During the hearing — which commenced at 8:30am — the judge repeatedly expressed displeasure over the absence of Imran’s lawyers. He, however, gave multiple chances to the defense counsel to appear in court.
Finally, at 12:30pm, ASDJ Dilawar announced the verdict. Roughly 29 minutes later, reports of Imran’s arrest surfaced.
The PTI chairman’s arrest comes approximately three months after his first arrest on May 9 when he was detained in Islamabad from the high court’s premises in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Unlike previous instances, where Zaman Park was usually guarded by PTI supporters, Imran was detained without any major resistance.
Toshakhana case
The case, filed by ruling party lawmakers, is based on a criminal complaint filed by the ECP.
The case alleges that Imran had “deliberately concealed” details of the gifts he retained from the Toshaskhana — a repository where presents handed to government officials from foreign officials are kept — during his time as the prime minister and proceeds from their reported sales.
According to Toshakhana rules, gifts/presents and other such materials received by persons to whom these rules apply shall be reported to the Cabinet Division.
Imran has faced a number of legal issues over his retention of gifts. The issue also led to his disqualification by the ECP.
On Oct 21, 2022, the ECP concluded that the former premier had indeed made “false statements and incorrect declarations” regarding the gifts.
The watchdog’s order had said Imran stood disqualified under Article 63(1)(p) of the Constitution.
Subsequently, the ECP had approached the Islamabad sessions court with a copy of the complaint, seeking proceedings against Imran under criminal law for allegedly misleading officials about the gifts he received from foreign dignitaries during his tenure as the prime minister.
On May 10, Imran was indicted in the case. However, on July 4, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had stayed the proceeding and directed ADSJ Dilawar to re-examine the matter in seven days, keeping in view eight legal questions he framed to decide the maintainability of the Toshakhana reference.
The questions had included whether the complaint was filed on behalf of the ECP by a duly authorized person, whether the ECP’s decision of Oct 21, 2022, was a valid authorization to any officer of ECP to file a complaint, and whether the question of authorization was a question of fact and evidence and could be ratified subsequently during the course of proceedings.
Finally, on July 9, ADSJ Dilawar while ruling that the reference was maintainable, revived the stalled proceedings and summoned the witnesses for testimony.
A session court had last month declared that the ECP reference against the PTI chief was maintainable . The decision was subsequently challenged in the IHC.
A day earlier, the IHC gave a short breather to Imran, asking the judge to re-examine the jurisdiction and any procedure lapse in the filing of the complaint by the ECP. - Dawn
Courtesy Dawn
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