On December 6, 2023, the Islamabad High Court rejected the jailed former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan’s plea to withdraw his appeal against disqualification in the Toshakhana Corruption case.
Rejection of the Plea
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf party leader approached the Islamabad High Court Chief against the electoral body’s decision, contending that he had purchased the assets legally; hence, there was no reason for him to mention the gifts in the asset statements. On December 5, 2023, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq announced the verdict, which was reserved on September 13, 2023, rejecting Khan’s request to withdraw the petition against disqualification in the case.
PTI’s Fresh Petition
However, on January 18, 2023, the PTI filed a fresh plea in the IHC to withdraw the petition, saying that the cricketer-turned-politician wanted the Lahore High Court to hear the matter. A separate petition was filed in the Lahore High Court against Khan’s disqualification.
Toshakhana Case
On August 5, 2022, the District and Sessions Court sentenced Imran Khan to a three-year term in the Toshakhana criminal case, imposing a fine of 1,00,000 Pakistani rupees on the convicted PTI Chief. He also declared the former prime minister ineligible to hold office (public office) for five years.
Imran Khan emphasised that he had procured the gifts from the state treasury after paying Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 21.56 million, fetched about 58 million rupees, and added that one of the gifts included an expensive Graff wristwatch, cuff links, a costly pen, and a ring. The other three gifts include four Rolex watches.
Moreover, the Toshakhana is a department under the cabinet division that stores gifts given to rulers and government officials by heads of other governments and foreign dignitaries and according to The rules of Toshakhana, gifts and other such materials received by the persons to whom these rules apply shall be reported to the Cabinet Division, a Pakistani media agency said.
Imran Khan, aged 71, has been in jail since August 5, 2022, following a conviction in a case where the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified him for not disclosing the proceeds from the sale of gifts received from the state repository.
He was also convicted for two more prominent cases in Pakistani politics, such as the Al-Qadir case and the Cipher case, for allegedly leaking state secrets and violating the laws of the country. a Pakistani media agency reported. Currently, he is imprisoned in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
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