An Islamabad court will indict Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case, in which the deposed prime minister is accused of taking gifts in an illegal manner, a private TV channel reported. Islamabad District and Sessions Courts Additional Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar said Friday he would charge the PTI chief and ordered him to ensure his presence in his courtroom – as he rejected his requests to dismiss the case.
During the hearing, Kh Haris presented his arguments regarding two pleas filed by Imran, contesting the maintainability of the Toshakhana case and the ECP’s jurisdiction to decide “any questions of ‘corrupt practices and disqualification'”. He began by informing the court that the plea contesting the maintainability of the case was filed under Section 190-A of the Elections Act and argued that the sessions court could not “directly hear the case”.
The lawyer also read out Sections 190 and 193 of the Elections Act, contending that the maintainability of an application and trial proceedings were different matters. He argued that a sessions court could hear a case such as the Toshakhana one if it was filed under Section 190 of the Elections Act, adding that neither a trial nor an inquiry had been initiated in the case against Imran. Haris also objected to the procedure via which District Election Commissioner Waqas Malik had filed the ECP’s application seeking proceedings against Imran under criminal law. “The application should have first been filed in a magistrate’s court and then submitted to the sessions court,” he said. The lawyer then requested the court for a break in the proceedings, following which the hearing was suspended for a while.
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