A day after the punishment announced in the cipher case, the PTI founding chairman and his wife Bushra Bibi were convicted and disqualified from holding any public office in the Toshakhana reference on Wednesday. According to the verdict announced by Muhammad Bashir, an accountability court judge, the couple will face 14-year rigorous imprisonment besides a 10-year period ban on vying for public offices in any capacity. The sentencing also entails a hefty fine of Rs787 million in a case that revolves around the illegal acquirement and sale of precious gifts received from the other countries, which are stored in the state-run treasury called Toshakhana. During Wednesday’s hearing, the PTI ex-chairman was presented before the judge who asked him about his statement under Section 342, as he marked his attendance while his wife skipped the hearing. In his reply, the accused, who is already convicted in the cipher case, said it was in his cell as he had been presented only to record his attendance. “Submit your reply immediate.

Don’t waste the court time,” the accountability court judge ordered after the PTI founder’s response. However, the former head of his party questioned the reason behind the haste and mentioned that the sentencing in the cipher case too was hurried announced. As he left the courtroom for the prison cell, he said his defence counsel hadn’t arrived yet and the document would be sent only after consulting them. Earlier on Tuesday, the PTI founder and his close associate Shah Mehmood Qureshi were sentenced to 10-year rigorous imprisonment in the cipher case, as the special court established under the Official Secrets Act announced its verdict in the keenly-observed episode. It was a natural consequence of the saga, triggered by violating the oath taken as a prime minister, which endangered Pakistan’s security, damaged its relations with other nations and got the then opposition leaders labeled as foreign agents only because they had exercised their constitutional right of tabling a no-confidence motion against the PTI government.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)