SC adjourns Toshakhana case till IHC issues order
\nISLAMABAD
\nThe Islamabad High Court (IHC) has adjourned the hearing of the plea against PTI chief and former prime minister Imran Khan\u2019s conviction in Toshakhana case for tomorrow (Friday) after arguments from both the prosecution and the defence. A two-judge bench of IHC led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard the plea.
\nAs the proceedings were set into motion, PTI lawyer Lateef Khosa while presenting his arguments contended before the IHC that there were three grounds pertaining to the suspension of a conviction. \u201cOne is a short sentence,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cThe second is about the jurisdiction of the court.\u201d
\nKhosa maintained that a sessions court did not have the jurisdiction to hear ECP\u2019s appeal. \u201cIt should have sorted out the jurisdiction problem first,\u201d he added. Khosa said that as per the ECP\u2019s definition the body comprises of ECP chief and its members. \u201cAccording to the law, the ECP has the right to let any of its employees file a complaint,\u201d he said and added \u201cIn this case, the election commission secretary authorised the district election commission. There is no authorisation by the commission itself in this case.\u201d Khosa further said that the sessions court announced the verdict without deciding the matter related to the jurisdiction and authorisation. He argued the trial court even overlooked the high court\u2019s order and that the trial court\u2019s decision had a lot of loopholes. \u201cIHC accepted our appeal in the face of the trial court\u2019s order,\u201d he said and added \u201cThe high court had sent the case back to the trial court for a decision.\u201d
\nKhosa maintained the high court ordered the trial court to answer the questions raised by the defence in its decision but it did not give sufficient time to the defence.
\nWhile presenting his arguments before the court, Amjad Pervaiz, a lawyer for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), said that a plea of the PTI chairman regarding the right to defence was pending in the Supreme Court of Pakistan and a single bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
\n\u201cThis bench cannot make any observations on the matter as it is being heard in the Supreme Court and the IHC single bench,\u201d he added. \u201cThis bench has been sandwiched between the Supreme Court and the IHC single bench,\u201d IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq remarked.
\n\u201cA petition was filed in the Supreme Court against the decision of the IHC. The trial court declared the witnesses of the PTI chairman irrelevant,\u201d Amjad Pervaiz told the court. \u201cThe returns are submitted in consultation with the consultant. It is the client who has to tell what his assets are. The accountant does not write anything on his behalf. The client tells. He [Imran] showed four goats in the returns but did not disclose the other relevant items,\u201d he stated.
\nMeanwhile, the Supreme Court of Pakistan also held its proceedings in the Toshakhana case on Thursday afternoon and as the hearing was still under way at the IHC, the apex court adjourned its hearing until the high court reaches a decision on the petition.
\nAfter waiting for a possible decision by the IHC in the Toshakhana case all day long on Thursday, the Supreme Court will now conduct its hearing next week as SC\u2019s Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi left for Lahore. Three-member bench led by CJP Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Mazahir Naqvi and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel was due to conduct the hearing. Authorities fearing a strong protest from the PTI lawyers a heavy contingent of police and FC personnel were deployed outside the IHC.
\nOn Wednesday, the SC had hinted at \u201cprocedural flaws\u201d in conviction of Imran Khan by the trial court while hearing the Toshakhana reference. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked \u201cPrima facies the verdict of the additional sessions judge contains loopholes but the apex court will not intervene right now, rather it will wait for the high court\u2019s decision.\u201d
\nThe Wednesday\u2019s ruling of the Supreme Court came during the hearing of the PTI chief\u2019s challenge to the IHC\u2019s August 3 order of referring the case back to trial court judge Humayun Dilawar, who handed Imran Khan three-year jail term. \u2014 DNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SC adjourns Toshakhana case till IHC issues order ISLAMABAD The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has adjourned the hearing of the plea against PTI chief and former prime minister Imran Khan\u2019s conviction in Toshakhana case for tomorrow (Friday) after arguments from both the prosecution and the defence. A two-judge bench of IHC led by Chief Justice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260941,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-351483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"yoast_head":"\n