Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan challenged on Tuesday a local court's decision against the suspension of his arrest warrant in the Toshakhana case against him in the Islamabad High Court. A day earlier, additional sessions judge Zafar Iqbal had rejected the request of the former prime minister seeking the suspension of a non-bailable arrest warrant against him issued in the Toshakhana case.Khan, in the petition filed in the IHC, requested the suspension of his arrest warrant. He also sought an immediate hearing of the petition today.

The deposed prime minister is yet to appear before an Islamabad sessions court in the Toshakhana case despite a non-bailable arrest warrant against him. At the outset of the hearing earlier in the day, Sardar Masroof Khan, a junior lawyer of Imran Khan, appeared before the lower court. Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha and the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) lawyer Saad Hasan also appeared in court.

Additional sessions judge Zafar Iqbal inquired whether Imran Khan wouldn't appear in court again today. The lawyer said it was not known whether Imran would appear or not and that a senior legal team of the PTI chair would appear before the court at 10am. The court then adjourned the hearing till 10am.

When the hearing resumed, ECP's lawyer Hasan requested the court to adjourn the hearing till March 9 as Khan is due in the IHC. Ranjha supported the lawyer's request saying that the PTI chief would surely appear before the high court on March 9. It is worth mentioned here that Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana reference under Article 63(1)(p).

In the written judgment, the ECP said: “As per the statement of Khan he had purchased the gifts from Toshakhana paying 21.564 million rupees while the Cabinet Division said that the gifts had a value of 107.943 million.” “The amount in his bank account was around half of the value of the state gifts. Imran Khan was bound to declare the cash and bank details in his returns but he didn’t declare it,” ECP decision read.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP