The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on former prime minister Imran Khan’s plea challenging his five-year disqualification in the Toshakhana case.
On August 8, the ECP had disqualified the ex-premier, presently confined at Adiala Jail, for five years following his conviction in the Toshakhana case for concealing details of the gifts he received as the premier during his tenure.
An Islamabad trial court had found him guilty of “corrupt practices by hiding the benefits he accrued from the national exchequer wilfully and intentionally”.
“He cheated while providing information of gifts he obtained from Toshakhana which later proved to be false and inaccurate. His dishonesty has been established beyond doubt,” the court order had said.
It should be noted that on August 29, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had suspended Imran’s sentence in the case.
In a petition filed earlier this month, the former prime minister said the ECP, despite his clear explanations for the Toshakhana gifts, illegally de-seated him as an MNA from Mianwali’s NA-95 constituency and directed that a complaint be filed against him under the Elections Act 2017.
Imran also asked the court to set aside his disqualification for being unlawful so that he could contest the upcoming general elections.
Last week, a senior judge of the high court had referred the petition to the larger bench as it already seized an identical matter relating to the ECP proceedings against the former chairman of the PTI.
Today, a bench headed by Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan and comprising Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza, Justice Shahid Karim, Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry and Justice Jawad Hassan took up the plea.
Barrister Ali Zafar appeared in court on behalf of Imran. At the outset, Justice Bilal noted that the bench would first decide on the jurisdiction of the petition before it was formally heard.
He inquired about the lawyer representing the electoral body and was later told that the ECP counsel was on leave. The judge then said that it would be inappropriate to hear the case in the absence of the lawyer.
At one point, Barrister Zafar stated that the ECP had given a date of Feb 8 for the general elections, highlighting the urgency of the petition.
“Your client was elected from Mianwali,” Justice Mirza noted here. “How can the Islamabad High Court hear this case then? Present your arguments on this at the next hearing,” he directed.
Last week, the IHC had rejected Imran’s application to withdraw his appeal against disqualification in the Toshakhana reference in order to enable him to pursue the matter in the LHC.
The court subsequently issued notices to the ECP and adjourned the hearing.
The bench also passed similar orders on a separate petition, filed by Imran, challenging the cancellation of the PTI’s intra-party polls held last year. The plea had asked the LHC to declare that the intra-party elections conducted on June 10, 2022, were valid by the party’s constitution.
Speaking to the media outside the LHC, Barrister Zafar said he hoped the issue would be resolved soon so that Imran could also take part in the upcoming elections.
