Toshakhana case: A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Monday reserved its order on PTI chairman Imran Khan’s plea seeking exemption from appearance before the court in the Toshakhana case.
The verdict is expected to be pronounced by Additional District and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal at 3.15 pm. Imran Khan is accused of hiding details of gifts kept from Toshakhana in his asset declarations. It is a repository where gifts given to government officials from foreign countries are kept.
Imran Khan is evading arrest
The sessions court was all set to charge Imran in the Toshakhana reference on February 28, but his lawyer requested the judge to exempt him from the hearing as he has to appear in several other courts. His indictment had previously been postponed twice. The judge then issued an arrest warrant for Imran and adjourned the hearing till March 7.
toshakhana case
Allegations that Imran did not share details of gifts kept at the Toshakhana (during his time as prime minister) and the proceeds from their alleged sale were filed last year by MPs of the ruling coalition. On 21 October, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) concluded that the former prime minister had in fact made “false statements and false declarations” regarding the gifts.
The Toshakhana is a department under the Cabinet Division that stores gifts given to rulers and government officials by heads of other governments and foreign dignitaries. In accordance with the Toshakhana Rules, gifts/gifts and such other material received by the persons to whom these rules apply shall be reported to the Cabinet Division. In the order of the monitoring body, it was said that Imran is disqualified under Article 63 (1) (P) of the Constitution.
