The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday said it would announce at 11am tomorrow its reserved verdict on PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s plea seeking the suspension of a three-year jail term sentenced to the ex-premier in the Toshakhana case.
The court reserved its verdict today on the PTI chief’s plea after the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) counsel concluded his arguments.
On August 5, a trial court in Islamabad had convicted the PTI chief in the case filed by the ECP that involved concealing details of state gifts and jailed him for three years. The verdict meant he was disqualified from contesting general elections for five years.
Imran had subsequently filed an appeal in the high court against his conviction. He had also approached the Supreme Court (SC) against the IHC’s decision to remand the case back to the trial court judge who had convicted him.
Last week, however, the SC had acknowledged “procedural defects” in Imran’s conviction but had opted to wait for the IHC decision on Imran’s plea. The court’s observations had drawn the ire of the Pakistan Bar Council, which said there should be no “interference” in matters pending before the subordinate judiciary.
At the previous IHC hearing, the court had adjourned the case due to the absence of the ECP lawyer, Advocate Amjad Pervaiz. It had led Imran’s counsel, Advocate Latif Khosa, to express his dissatisfaction with the court, saying he would not appear at the next hearing.
Subsequently, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, who was presiding over the hearing and in whom the PTI chief has expressed a lack of confidence, had asserted he would decide on the matter today “even if no one appears”.
Today, a division bench comprising Justice Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri presided over the hearing while both parties’ counsels, Khosa and Pervaiz, were also present in the courtroom.
During his arguments, the ECP lawyer urged the IHC to issue a notice to the state to make it a respondent in the case as, he said, the law made it necessary.
When Pervaiz concluded his arguments, Khosa said he did not have any objections to the ECP counsel’s plea to issue a notice to the state but also said it “should not be done” at this stage of the case.
Subsequently, the court reserved its verdict on the case and said it would announce it at 11am tomorrow (Tuesday).
Meanwhile, while the hearing was under way, the Islamabad Police said it was “always ready to deal with any untoward incident during the hearing of important cases” at the IHC.
It requested the public to “cooperate with the policemen on duty and to identify themselves”.
