Toshkhana case: Imran Khan approaches Islamabad HC seeking suspension of trial court order

Imran Khan on Thursday approached the Islamabad High Court IHC seeking suspension of the trial courts verdict in the Toshakhana corruption case more than a month after it suspended the jailed former prime ministers threeyear sentence for concealing details of state gifts according to a media reportKhan who turned 71 today was arrested on August 5 2023 and shifted to Attock jail after a court sentenced him to three years in prison in the Toshakhana national treasury gifts graft case The trial court in Islamabad had found the Pakistan TehreekeInsaf PTI chief guilty of corrupt practices in the Toshakhana caseThe Supreme Court later acknowledged procedural defects in Khans conviction by the trial courtAfter his sentence in the Toshakhana case was suspended by the IHC the PTI chief was detained in the cipher case for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act by disclosing a cable sent by Pakistans embassy in Washington last year in March He has since remained behind bars on judicial remand which has been extended until October 10On September 26 Khan was shifted to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi from Attock jail in Punjab province following the directives issued by the IHC Last weekend the police ramped up security in the vicinity of the Adiala jail by deploying elite commandos and setting up additional security pickets to ensure foolproof measuresKhan through senior lawyer Latif Khosa on Thursday moved the IHC against the Toshakhana verdict under section 561A saving of inherent power of high court of the Code of Criminal Procedure the Dawn newspaper reportedThe petitions title stated that it sought rectification of the order dated August 28 to the extent of suspending the operation of the impugned order along with the sentence as verbally prayed by the learned counsel for the petitioner before this honourable court at the time of argumentsOn August 28 the Islamabad High Court IHC suspended Khans threeyear sentence in the Toshakhana caseThe petition urged the court to rectify the omission of not recording the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner with regard to the suspension of the Toshakhana judgment of August 5It further requested the IHC that the operation of the same order be suspendedstayed till the final decision of the appeal The plea also sought permission to make the state a respondent in the memo of appealAny other direction or relief which this honourable court deems fit and proper in the indication of grievances aforesaid may also be awarded it addedThe petition listed the Election Commission of Pakistan as a respondent in the case and stated that during the course of the arguments Khans counsel Khosa had specifically requested the IHC to suspend the operation of the Toshakhana verdict as well as the sentenceIt argued that the language of section 426 suspension of sentence pending appeals was very much clear that the court seized with the matter has the power to suspend the impugned order and the sentenceCiting section 561A of the CrPC Code of Criminal Procedure it said the IHC had the authority to issue orders to ldquogive effect to any order under the Code CrPC or to prevent abuse of process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justicerdquoThe plea added that the omission of not the counsels contentions before the IHC when urging the suspension of the August 5 trial court verdict and the ldquosubsequent nonmentioning of the samerdquo in the IHCs order of August 28 was ldquoan omission floating on the face of the orderrdquoIt contended that the omission of arguments has ldquocaused serious prejudice to the rightsrdquo of the PTI chief as he has been disqualified from contesting elections by the ECPIt added that the ECP was ldquoin haste in disqualifying the petition ldquo notwithstanding the fact that convictionsentence had not attained finalityrdquoThe plea went on to mention ldquoattempts being made to remove his sic from the head of the party and even proceedings to take away the symbol and throw him out of the arena of general electionsrdquoldquoThe entire leadership of PTI is either incarcerated or amongst the missing persons beside hundreds of false cases registered against loyalists resulting in incarceration and unending ordealrdquo it statedMeanwhile the IHC issued notices to respondents on a plea of Khans wife Bushra Bibi wherein she sought protection for her husbandIHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq presided over the hearing and issued notices to the respondents in the case During the hearing he observed ldquoIf there is room for it and the court can do something I will issue an order accordinglyrdquoKhosa appeared as the counsel for Bushra Bibi and urged the court to grant permission to provide Khan with homecooked food ldquoPrayers can barely be offered in the cell where the PTI chairman has been keptrdquo he contended before the courtldquoIt is our history that whoever becomes the president or prime minister he later becomes a guest at the Adiala and Attock jailsrdquo Khosa said Subsequently the court issued notices and adjourned the hearing until next weekOn Monday Bushra Bibi approached the IHC seeking protection for her husband She had exshypressshyshyed the apprehension that the jail administration might poison the meal of her husband and sought permission for homemade food for the detained PTI chiefOn Tuesday Naeem Haider Panjutha spokesman to Khan on legal affairs had claimed that his client had been moved to a lowerclass cell at the Adiala Jail last night and feared the expremiers life was in dangerConfirming that Bushra Bibi met Imran in Adiala Jail on Tuesday he claimed there was ldquodanger to Imran Khans liferdquo ldquoImran can be slow food poisoned ldquohe is being mentally tortured and his movement has been restrictedrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday 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