A hearing of the Toshakhana case was held Friday in a district and sessions court in Islamabad during which the lawyer for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman cross-examined a witness of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar heard the case. Khawaja Harris, the lawyer for PTI chairman Imran Khan, and Amjad Pervaiz, the lawyer for the ECP, along with witnesses appeared in the court. Khawaja Harris cross-examined the first witness, Waqas Malik, and asked: “When did you join the ECP?” Waqas Malik replied: “I joined the ECP as Election Officer in 2006. I joined the NIM training in May 2023. The verification of the complaint was done in October 2022.”

 Khawaja Harris further asked: “Did you read the complaint in detail before filing the complaint?” Waqas Malik replied: “Yes! I read all the details before filing the complaint.” ECP’s lawyer Amjad Pervaiz attempted to talk to the witness during the cross-examination, but Khawaja Harris requested him to refrain from doing that. “When did you sign the complaint?” Khawaja Harris put another question to witness Waqas Malik. “The complaint was taken from a computer. The verification came out by itself,” the witness replied.

 “I did not ask for this. This is not a statement. This is cross-examination. It is not legally allowed,” Khawaja Harris asserted. “There is a difference between signing a complaint and an affidavit. The word ‘affidavit’ is not written on the complaint verification,” the witness replied while being cross-examined. “There are my signatures on the complaint and affidavit,” he added.

 
Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP