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In yet another jolt to former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected yet another plea by the former PM seeking a stay in the trial court’s criminal proceedings against him in the controversial Toshakhana case.
According to Geo News, a three-member bench at Pakistan’s apex court told the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief to wait for a verdict by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) as the Supreme Court will take up the case only after that.
“We believe that the high court can issue a better order than us. It is possible that it will give the order to stop the trial tomorrow,” he said. The IHC has scheduled Khan’s appeal for a hearing on Augst 3, challenging the maintainability of the Toshakhana case.
Last week, the Supreme Court had declined to intervene in the criminal proceedings against Khan. It urged the IHC to decide the pending petitions filed by the PTI chairman.
Khan is alleged to have deliberately conceal details of the gifts that he has retained from the Toshakhana – a repository where gifts received by foreign officials are kept – during his tenure as Prime Minister.
Last year, the former PM was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”.
Khan’s indictment in contempt case deferred again
Meanwhile, Khan’s indictment in the contempt case was once again deferred by the electoral watchdog to August 22 as he did not show up for today’s hearing, during which his counsel sought an exemption from personal appearance.
The ECP had filed a case against the PTI chairman, party leader Asad Umar and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry for using ‘intemperate’ language against the electoral body and the chief election commissioner.
The indictment was postponed till August 2 following an adjournment request from Khan’s counsel Shoaib Shaheen, who had requested an adjournment till September, Dawn reported.
However, after Khan failed to show up today, his counsel said that the former PM had gone to the hospital for a check-up, following which Justice Ikramullah Khan pointed out that he was supposed to be indicted during today’s hearing. “How can we accept a plea seeking exemption from personal appearance?” he asked.
Khan’s counsel said that allegations against the former PM have not been proved and he was not provided with the case record. After this, the hearing was adjourned till August 2.
The ECP on Friday temporarily suspended the arrest warrants for Khan and ordered him to ensure his presence at the next hearing for the framing of charges. On July 24, a day before his appearance, the ECP had ordered Islamabad police to arrest Khan and present him before the election watchdog.
Khan is facing more than 140 cases across the country and faces charges like terrorism, violence, blasphemy, corruption and murder since he was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.
ALSO READ | No relief! Pakistan SC rejects Imran Khan’s plea to stay criminal proceedings in Toshakhana corruption case
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