The Islamabad High Court has issued a written order on the July 27 hearing on an appeal of PTI Chairman Imran Khan against declaring the Toshakhana case maintainable. The order was issued by IHC Chief Justice Aamir Farooq. The registrar’s office should consolidate all the applications and schedule them for hearing, the order said. According to the chief justice’s order, the lawyer called the judge biased and requested the case be transferred to another court. The Facebook posts attributed to the trial court judge were shown in court, according to the order. It was reported that the trial court judge refused to admit the Facebook posts belonged to him. The court ordered the registrar’s office refer the matter of the Facebook posts to the FIA’s cybercrime wing.

The FIA should investigate and submit its report before the next date of hearing, the order added. The election commission should also assist on this matter in the upcoming hearing, the court order said. According to the counsel, the jurisdiction should be decided before the hearing can proceed. There is a settled law; proceedings cannot go ahead without determining the jurisdiction, the order said. This is the second round of proceedings regarding the jurisdiction of the case, the court order said. The high court has already approved the appeal against declaring the case maintainable, it added. The IHC allowed the appeal and ordered the trial court to issue another verdict on the application. The trial court had again rejected the petition of the PTI chairman, the written order said.

 
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)