The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) filed a criminal charge against PTI Chairman Imran Khan in a trial court regarding a Toshakhana (gift repository) scandal, and the case has been accepted for hearing by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
The Islamabad High Court has ordered a new ruling on the case within seven days after remanding it to the court of the Islamabad (West) additional sessions judge.
It is underlined that the “learned trial court has left the issues undecided” and that the petitioner’s application was denied for insufficient reasons.
An eight-page order written by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq stated, “it would be only proper for the learned trial court to decide the application afresh after hearing the parties with detailed reasons keeping in view the provisions of Article 10-A of the Constitution as the foremost consideration.”
Six members of the National Assembly referred Imran and his wife’s financial disclosures for 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 to NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Asharf last year, alleging that the documents were false.
According to Article 63(2) of the Constitution, the speaker has submitted the issue to the ECP.
After sending letters to all parties involved, the ECP reached a decision on the matter and disqualified Imran from running for office on October 21, 2022, citing Article 63(1)(p) of the Constitution as well as articles 137, 167, and 173 of the Elections Act, 2017.
On November 7, 2022, the ECP filed a complaint at the Islamabad (West) sessions court against the PTI head for allegedly making a fraudulent disclosure regarding his assets and liabilities, citing Section 190(2) of the Elections Act, 2017.
The court issued summonses/notices to the PTI leader after recording brief comments and reviewing the relevant documents.
Imran filed a motion to dismiss the complaint with the court on March 13.
Based on Section 137(4) of the Elections Act (2017), which states that such criminal proceedings can only be started within 120-days on the submission of statement of assets and liabilities, the former prime minister argued that the ECP had filed the criminal complaint without due authorisation and that the same was also barred by limitation.
Another application to dismiss the complaint under Section 193 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1908 (CrPC) was submitted by Imran on May 5, 2023.
Both applications were denied by the court in a single ruling dated May 5, 2023. Imran went to the IHC to challenge the trial court’s decision to throw out his ECP complaint on the grounds of “limitation” and “authorisation” later on.
