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Imran Khan’s arrest in the Toshakhana case would be stopped by a Pakistani court magistrate on Thursday, but only if Khan appeared in court, according to Dawn.
When hearing the reference from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which requested criminal proceedings against Imran Khan for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts, the bench of Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ), Zafar Iqbal, made the aforementioned comments.
The sessions court was supposed to indict the PTI Chairman in the reference on February 28, according to a report in Dawn, but his counsel had requested the judge to excuse him from the hearing because he had to appear in numerous other courts. His initial charge had been continued a number of times.
Following that, Khan was given non-bailable arrest warrants, and the judge instructed the cops to bring Khan into court by March 7. In order to prevent being arrested, the PTI official petitioned the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to have the warrants revoked.
The IHC granted the country’s former prime minister some leeway, but he was still required to show up in court on March 13; despite this, he skipped the meeting once more.
Khan consequently received fresh non-bailable arrest orders on Monday from ADSJ Iqbal, who also instructed the police to bring Khan before a judge by March 18.
When police tried to take Imran Khan into custody on Tuesday at his Zaman Park mansion in Lahore, PTI supporters and law enforcement personnel participated in two days of fierce combat. On Wednesday, the fights finally came to an end after the judges intervened.
The PTI also opposed the most recent arrest orders for Khan the day before the IHC. Following the rejection of the petition, the trial court instructed the PTI leader to provide an assurance that he would show up for the hearing on March 18.
The ADSJ Iqbal court took up the matter once more on Thursday morning. Imran’s lawyers Khawaja Haris Ahmed and Babar Awan were in attendance.
According to a report in Dawn, lawmakers from the governing alliance submitted the reference last year and claimed Imran had failed to divulge information regarding the gifts he had received from the Toshaskhana (during his time as prime minister) and the proceeds of their alleged sales. The Pakistani Election Commission (ECP) came to the conclusion that the former prime minister had in reality made “false statements and erroneous declarations” regarding the gifts on October 21.
The Toshakhana is a section of the Cabinet Division where gifts that foreign dignitaries and leaders of other nations have presented to monarchs and officials are kept.
The ruling stated that Khan was disqualified in accordance with Article 63(1)(p) of the Constitution.
The ECP subsequently sent a copy of the reference to the Islamabad Sessions Court asking that Imran be charged with a crime for allegedly lying to officials about the gifts he allegedly got from foreign dignitaries while serving as prime minister, according to Dawn.
