Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan approached the Supreme Court on Monday against the Islamabad High Court’s decision to reject his plea seeking a halt on the criminal proceedings against him in the Toshakhana corruption trial.
Despite approaching the Islamabad High Court (IHC) twice, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Khan could not get relief in the case pertaining to the concealment of details regarding state gifts.
In his petition before the apex court, the 70-year-old Khan has appealed for a stay against the recording of his statement under Section 342, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. The petition contends that the trial, ongoing before District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar, should be halted till the IHC issues its final decision on the matter, it said.
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It adds that a decision on the jurisdiction of the court was necessary before the trial could proceed. The petition was submitted before the top court on behalf of Khan by the PTI chief’s legal team, led by Barrister Gohar Ali Khan.
The apex court accepted the petition. Later, the PTI chief's legal team met with Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial. The case pertains to the allegations that Khan "deliberately concealed" details of the gifts he retained from the Toshakhana - 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.
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Khan is accused of misusing his 2018 to 2022 premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than Rs 140 million (USD 635,000).
The Election Commission of Pakistan on October 21 last year, disqualified the former prime minister in the Toshakhana case for making "false statements and incorrect declaration". In May, a trial court rejected Imran Khan's petition challenging the maintainability of the case and indicted the PTI chief, who denied all the allegations of misdeclaration of gifts.
Khan challenged the trial court's decision before the IHC, which sent the case back to the trial court for re-examination. On July 8, the trial court concluded that the ECP's petition was maintainable and proceeded further against the former premier who then approached the Supreme Court for relief.
Khan is facing more than 140 cases across the country and faces charges like terrorism, violence, blasphemy, corruption and murder. Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.
