ADSJ Islamabad Zafar Iqabl rejects ECP plea for early hearing of Toshakhana case against Imran Khan
ISLAMABAD, April 11 (SABAH): An Islamabad district and sessions court on Tuesday rejected the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) request for an early hearing in the Toshakhana criminal proceedings against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan after listening to the arguments of all the parties.
At the outset of the hearing presided over by additional district and sessions judge Zafar Iqbal, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyer Khawaja Haris Ahmed questioned the justification for an early hearing, saying that it “wasted money”.
PTI lawyer Faisal Chaudhry continued that the April 29 date for the hearing was already accepted by the ECP and asked why they needed the date to be changed after two days. To this, the ECP lawyer Amjad Pervaiz said that the commission had asked for two days, not an entire month before the case was heard.
While presenting his arguments, Haris said that the case against PTI Chief Imran Khan was filed by the district election commissioner and the ECP had also filed a private complaint against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Ali Haider Gillani.
He continued that the case against Gillani was filed last year but the electoral watchdog did not file a request to schedule an earlier hearing. Advocate Haris questioned why the ECP was showing “more interest” in the case against Imran.
“Nowadays, there is a lot of business due to [the] PTI. Due to the abundance of cases, lawyers also need time for preparation. There was also a strike by lawyers on the last hearing and the hearing was adjourned due to the strike,” he said.
Haris argued that the case against the PPP leader was scheduled for a date one-and-half-months later but the ECP did not file a request to hear the matter earlier.
He furthered in the arguments that the request regarding Imran’s security was still under hearing in the court and that due to dangers to his life he should be exempted from attending court or be heard through a video link. He added that no one was “running away” from the case.
The PTI counsel provided a copy of the case pending against Ali Haider Gillani to the court, and maintained that the electoral body’s request for an early hearing was not “based on merit”. Therefore, he prayed that the application be dismissed.
ECP lawyer Muhammad Amjad Pervez in his arguments said that the cases of Imran Khan and Ali Haider Gillani were of varying nature and that the district election commissioner possessed the authority to file a private complaint.
He continued that bribery and non-declaration of assets were two different cases and it was “wrong” to accuse the commission of discrimination.
Pervez stated that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had decided that trial courts should make decisions on corrupt practices within three months. He added that the ECP petition was filed based on merit and SC decisions.
“I have been given the right to file a petition on corrupt practices by the Supreme Court,” he said.
During the hearing, PTI counsel Khawaja Haris filed a request for the exception for Imran Khan’s presence in court and argued that more than 100 cases were registered against the former premier, and he had to appear in court with protective bail.
The court said that there was no need to request an exemption from attendance, and the purpose was that either Imran or his lawyer should appear in court.
Haris reiterated that nothing happened in Gillani’s case for one-and-a-half months. He stated that Imran’s case was delayed for a month, and he had suffered.
The lawyer said that the discussions on the admissibility of the plea were still pending.
The ECP lawyer argued that the PTI camp had called the commission’s case false for three months, and asked the party chief to come forth if he was the “honest” one. He added that no plea was filed for Imran’s acquittal thus far.
Later, the court reserved its decision on the request of the ECP for an early hearing of the case, which was later announced by the judge who rejected the request.
The main case of the Toshakhana criminal proceedings is scheduled for hearing on April 29 and the ECP had filed a request for an early hearing of the case.
The court had issued a notice of April 11 to Imran Khan on the request for an early hearing, but the former premier failed to comply.