ISLAMABAD: An Additional District & Sessions Judge (AD&SJ) of Islamabad on Tuesday fixed February 7, 2023 as the date for indictment of former Prime Minister and Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan in Toshakhana reference.
Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal announced the verdict with the PTI lawyer Ali Bukhari and the ECP counsel Advocate Saad Hasan in attendance.
The judge had summoned the former Prime Minister on Tuesday but his counsel sought exemption on the grounds that since Imran Khan received multiple bullets and was recuperating after sustaining a gunshot wound in the November 3 attack, therefore he was unable to attend the hearing. A medical certificate in this regard was also submitted.
After hearing the arguments, the court extended Imran Khan’s interim bail until February 15 and fixed February 7 as date for indictment.
The court also turned down the plea by Irman Khan’s counsel for virtual hearing.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had sent the reference against Imran Khan to the trial court to initiate criminal proceedings against him.
According to the electoral watchdog, Imran Khan had not shared details of the gifts he retained from the Toshaskhana and proceeds from their reported sales.
On October 21, 2022 the ECP had disqualified him under the Constitution of Pakistan for “misleading officials about the gifts he received from foreign dignitaries during his tenure as the prime minister.”
The Toshakhana is a department under the Cabinet Division where gifts received from the foreign dignitaries and heads of the governments and states are stored.
According to the Toshakhana rules, details of all gifts/presents and other such materials are to be reported to the Cabinet Division.
Timeline of Toshakhana reference
In August 2022, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had sent a reference to the ECP under Articles 62A, 63A, and 223, seeking former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s disqualification in the light of the Toshakhana scam.
In October 2022, the Election Commission found the former prime minister guilty of submitting “false statements and an incorrect declaration” in his nomination papers and disqualified him.
A month after the October 2022 verdict, a trial court of Islamabad sent a notice to the PTI chief after receiving the Toshakhana reference from ECP, which marked the beginning of a trial against Imran Khan.
