ECP counsel presents his final arguments before two-member IHC bench
\nISLAMABAD
\nThe Islamabad High Court (IHC) has reserved its verdict on the appeal filed by former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan, seeking suspension of his sentence in the Toshakhana reference by a sessions court.
\nOpposing former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan\u2019s appeal, seeking suspension of his sentence in the Toshakhana case by a trial court, Advocate Amjad Pervaiz, counsel for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), said on Monday that a public prosecutor should also have been issued a notice.
\nDuring the hearing of the appeal in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), he cited different laws and court decisions in support of his argument. A two-member bench of the IHC, comprising Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, heard the case.
\nThe CJ remarked that it was the ECP, and not the state, that had filed a petition against Imran. \u201cYou did not state this during the case\u2019s hearing in the trial court,\u201d he said. ECP\u2019s lawyer, on the occasion, cited a relevant decision given by a court in India.
\nHe said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had been sentenced to two years in prison on a private complaint. \u201cRahul appealed the decision, which was rejected by the court, saying suspension of a sentence was not a \u2018hard and fast rule\u2019,\u201d he said, and added, \u201cTruth of the matter is that the state has not been made a respondent in PTI chief\u2019s petition.\u201d
\nCJ Farooq remarked that it was the ECP\u2019s private complaint against the former prime minister. \u201cWhen there was no reference to the state during the hearing in the trial court, then why should it be mentioned now?\u201d he questioned.
\nThe chief justice went on to say that a complainant was never made a party in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases. Advocate Pervaiz said that a prosecutor had been defined in the NAB laws.
\n\u201cThe state has nothing to do with the NAB case; it is the bureau\u2019s own prosecutor who is listened to,\u201d the lawyer said, adding, \u201cAn order by a court without listening to arguments by the NAB is unthinkable.\u201d
\nHe said that it was the CrPC that shed light on \u2018Public Prosecutor\u2019. ECP\u2019s lawyer requested the court to issue a notice to the government. \u201cI have already given references of 14 court verdicts,\u201d he added.
\nHe further said that even the appellant had not objected to a trial by a sessions court. \u201cTheir contention is that it is the sessions court, which has to hear the case. But the complaint should first go to a magistrate,\u201d Advocate Pervaiz told the court.
\nHe went on to say that it was being alleged by the PTI that its chairman had not been granted the right to defence in the case. \u201cI was the one who had said during trial in the sessions court that the defendant should be given that right,\u201d he added.
\nThe lawyer said that the court, in its verdict, had said that Imran had been found involved in \u2018corrupt practices\u2019, and that action should be taken against him. \u201cI will say nothing new in the case,\u201d Advocate Pervaiz said, and regretted that the PTI had bent upon projecting the ECP and judge Humayun Dilawar as \u2018villains\u2019.
\nThe CJ cut him short and asked him to better concentrate on the case on hand. ECP\u2019s lawyer said it was unfortunate that a propaganda had been unleashed that the trial court judge had violated the IHC\u2019s order. \u201cI will tell you that the judge had committed no violation,\u201d he added.
\nIt is worth-reminding here that a trial court in Islamabad had on August 5 sentenced PTI chairman to three years in prison for concealing details of the gifts he had received from foreign dignitaries. Following which Imran approached the IHC for suspension of the court\u2019s verdict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ECP counsel presents his final arguments before two-member IHC bench ISLAMABAD The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has reserved its verdict on the appeal filed by former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan, seeking suspension of his sentence in the Toshakhana reference by a sessions court. Opposing former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260941,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-352239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n