ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday sought a response from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on former prime minister Imran Khan’s petition seeking to set aside his conviction in the Toshakhana reference and the suspension of his disqualification.

Arguing before the IHC division bench, comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Mr Khan’s counsel Sardar Latif Khan Khosa said that following his hastily announced conviction, the ECP had also issued the order for his disqualification in haste.

He pointed out that the trial court issued the verdict on Aug 5, while ECP disqualified Mr Khan on Aug 8 and barred him from holding public office for five years.

The lawyer read out the order that disqualified Mr Khan and said that elections were going to be held on Feb 8, while the PTI has been directed to conduct intra-party elections within 20 days in a bid to “minus Mr Khan”.

Contempt case against PTI chief may be tried in Adiala; notices issued to NAB in corruption case

Advocate Khosa argued that the PTI chairman would suffer an irreparable loss if his disqualification was not suspended forthwith and it would also take a toll on the political party.

He said that the Constitution empowers the people to elect the leader of their choice. Any breach in the constitutionally guaranteed rights would jeopardise the election process and would be fatal for the state, he said.

Requesting the court to suspend the disqualification, he further prayed for the suspension of his conviction so he may be able to contest the Feb 8 elections.

ECP counsel Amjad Pervaiz opposed the request, saying that this matter has already been addressed. He suggested that the defence counsel could advance these arguments during the hearing of the plea seeking suspension of the sentence.

Advocate Khosa then requested the court to amend the order that suspended the sentence and suspend the conviction instead.

Corruption case

In a related development, an accountability court in Islamabad issued a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday on a petition for post-arrest bail for Mr Khan in a £140 million corruption case.

Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir issued the notice, which NAB prosecutor Sohail Arif received in the courtroom.

The bail petition was filed by Mr Khan through Advocate Khosa, naming the chairman and director general of NAB as respondents.

Advocate Khosa argued before the court that Mr Khan, a former prime minister and a renowned cricketer, is being victimised for political reasons. He stated that Mr Khan was implicated in a £140 million corruption case solely to defame him.

Later, Intizar Panjhuta, an associate lawyer of Mr Khosa, held a press conference on this matter at the National Press Club in Islamabad. He denied any financial gain for Mr Khan in this case.

Contempt case trial

Separately, following a failure to ensure Mr Khan’s production before it in a contempt case, the ECP might consider conducting the trial against him in Adiala jail.

This was indicated during a hearing of the contempt case against the former premier and two members of his cabinet, Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar, on Thursday.

The four-member ECP bench, headed by ECP member Nisar Ahmad Durrani from Sindh, told Mr Khan’s counsel, Shoaib Shaheen, that the interior ministry had submitted a report stating that Mr Khan could not be produced before it for security reasons. The ministry proposed that the commission send a team to jail to indict him.

The ECP is yet to decide on the ministry’s report, forwarded to the commission and other relevant ministries under the standard operating procedure. At the outset, Mr Shaheen conveyed that the order from the last hearing had not been provided to him.

Mr Durrani responded by saying, “The interior ministry submitted a report highlighting that Imran could not be presented due to the current circumstances.”

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2023