Pakistan Supreme Court Turns Down Imran Khan’s Appeal in Toshakhana Case

Supreme Court of Pakistan has turndown an appeal challenging three-year conviction of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Toshakhana corruption case.

The registrar’s office rejected the appeal submitted by 71-year-old Khan, represented by counsel Latif Khosa under Article 185 of the Constitution.

The appeal challenged the December 11, decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), which had previously dismissed a similar plea for lacking essential requirements, including the absence of actual controversies or a chronological account of past litigation.

The appeal sought to reverse Khan’s August 5 conviction by an additional sessions judge of the IHC for the alleged illegal sale of state gifts.

The Toshakhana case revolves around accusations that the former premier violated Toshakhana or state repository rules, where gifts from foreign leaders to Pakistani top leaders are stored.

The registrar’s office cited various deficiencies in the appeal, including the absence of a concise statement.

The petition was instructed to include the actual controversy or chronology of the litigation, findings from lower forums, questions for consideration by the Supreme Court, relevant facts, events, and documents demonstrating a breach of legal rights or entitlement to relief.

Additionally, the concise statement in the petition was required to be signed by an advocate of the Supreme Court.

Furthermore, the petitioner failed to notify the respondents by issuing notices about the filing of the petition.

As a result, the court office returned the petition to the petitioner’s lawyers for correction of these deficiencies within a fortnight, by January 6, 2024.

The petition argued that the petitioner had submitted an application for the suspension of the three-year sentence, along with the main appeal, which was heard by the IHC on August 28.

During the arguments, a request was made to the high court to suspend the sentence, contending jurisdictional defects.

On August 8, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued a notification disqualifying the appellant under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution, reducing the disqualification period to five years under recent amendments to the Elections Act 2017.

The petition contended that the ECP notification was not communicated to the petitioner while he was behind bars, and it alleged attempts to strip the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) symbol and exclude it from the election arena.

Imran Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician, was convicted on August 5, granted bail by the Islamabad High Court, but remains in custody due to other pending cases.