PTI chief taken to Attock Jail via motorway
news desk
ISLAMABAD
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan was arrested on Saturday shortly after the trial court hearing the Toshakhana case declared him guilty and sentenced him to three years in jail.
The court had ordered the immediate arrest of the PTI chairperson and also imposed a fine of Rs100,000.
A police team headed by SSP CIA Malik Liaquat took the PTI chief into custody. A picture of him sitting in a car with Imran Khan also went viral on social media.
Khan was transferred from Lahore to Islamabad via motorway. He will be lodged in Attock Jail and kept in a lock-up in high security zone.
The PTI chief was taken to PIMS Hospital on reaching the federal capital in a convoy, where he underwent a medical examination. The verdict, issued by Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar, comes amid the PTI chief’s contentions on both the maintainability of the case and repeated transfer requests based on percieved biasness of the judge.
A day after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) directed the PTI chief’s legal team to take up the matter of maintainability with the trial court again, Justice Dilawar had sought arguments on maintainability. He had also warned the PTI chief’s legal team to present final arguments otherwise the decision would be announced today (Saturday). When the trial court took up the matter today at 8.30am the PTI chief’s senior legal representatives were absent. The court took three recesses before announcing the verdict sometime past noon.
Before the decision was announced, Imran’s lawyer Khawaja Haris appeared before Judge Dilawar and informed the court that his legal team was barred from entering IHC premises. We want to file for the transfer of this case from your court, he said. However, the judge instructed him to either present final arguments before noon or the verdict will be issued.
In his ruling, Justice Dilawar said that the charges against Imran had been proven.
Issuing the verdict, the trial court declared the PTI chief guilty of corrupt practices and of making an “incorrect” declaration before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
“The court finds its more than convincing that the complainant (ECP) had provided confidence-inspiring, well-knitted and corroborated evidence, and so the charge against the accused has successfully been proven that the accused has committed offence of corrupt practices by making and publishing false statements/declaration in respect of assets acquired by way of gifts from Toshakhana and disposed of during years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020,” wrote Justice Dilawar in the short order.
