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IHC CJ Aamer Farooq stops proceedings in the Toshakhana case filed by ECP against Imran Khan for allegedly concealing gifts

ISLAMABAD, May 12 (SABAH): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday stopped proceedings in the Toshakhana case filed by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan for allegedly concealing gifts.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq issued the ruling on a petition filed by the PTI chief seeking transfer of his trial in the said case from the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar.

The petition was filed on May 11 a day after the additional sessions judge indicted Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case and summoned three witnesses of prosecution on May 13 to record their statements. The trial court’s judge had also turned down the PTI chief’s plea for transfer of his case.

At the outset of the hearing, Imran Khan’s lawyer Khawaja Harris Ahmed said he had four difference applications, adding that the ECP secretary was not authorised to send the Toshakhana case to the trial court. He said the ECP did not follow the law by sending the complaint, adding that the complaint could not be sent after the lapse of the set time period.

The IHC chief justice also commented on the security measures taken outside the high court ahead of Imran Khan’s appearance in another case, saying: “It seems curfew has been imposed”.

Khawaja Harris, later, pleaded the chief justice to issue a stay order on proceedings in the Toshakhana case. The IHC accepted the plea, ruling that the trial will remain suspended until the PTI plea is decided by it. Later, the case was adjourned till June 8.

Last year, a reference was filed against him by lawmakers from the ruling coalition accusing him of not sharing the details of gifts he retained from Toshakhana in his assets declarations and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had concluded in October last year that the PTI chief filed false statements regarding the gifts.

The electoral watchdog subsequently disqualified him for being dishonest and corrupt and approached the district and sessions court seeking criminal proceedings against Imran Khan for allegedly misleading officials about the gifts.