A lower court’s decision on the maintainability of the Toshakhana case against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman was overturned on Friday by the Islamabad High Court (IHC), and the same court was ordered to hear and decide the matter anew by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, who announced the reserved rulings on multiple petitions of the PTI chairman.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was put on notice by the IHC after the PTI leader petitioned against the trial court’s rejection of his witnesses list and his right to defense in the ongoing trial.
Islamabad’s Additional District Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Humayun Dilawar is presiding over the Toshakhana case. For “deliberately concealing” the gifts from the Toshakhana [government repository], the ECP launched a case against the PTI chief.
The PTI leader had previously asked for help from the Supreme Court thrice. The motion to halt the proceedings was denied by a three-judge panel of the Supreme Court presided over by Justice Yahya Afridi on the basis of a withdrawal.
The PTI chairman filed various applications with the IHC, questioning the ADSJ’s authority to hear the case and arguing that the court erred in denying him a defense.
Chief Justice Farooq had postponed his decision on these petitions a day earlier. When the trial court called, the chief judge ordered the petitioner to provide closing arguments.
An in-depth order issued by the IHC stated, “The matter [maintainability] is remanded to the trial court for decision afresh,” with the court having been told that final arguments before the trial court had been scheduled.
The chief justice has mandated that the petitions be taken into account by the lower court as it makes its decision. When the case was set for oral arguments, the judgment said the petitioner should present their case.
While denying the motion to transfer the Toshakhana case, the chief justice cited precedents holding that cases might be moved to a different court only if there were compelling grounds and evidence to do so.
The court stated that ADSJ Humayun Dilawar denied writing the Facebook posts that were ascribed to his account. The ECP lawyer was quoted as saying the posts attributed to the judge were fabricated.
Within two weeks, the IHC’s deputy registrar is to receive a report from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on the topic of the ADSJ’s Facebook account and the purported posts.
Following the verdict, ADSJ Dilawar summoned the PTI Chairman and his lawyer to make arguments on the maintainability of the matter on Saturday morning.
The judge has also summoned attorneys for the PTI chairman to make their closing arguments; otherwise, a ruling will be made this next Saturday. He mentioned that the closing arguments had already been made by the ECP attorney.
Earlier in the day, ECP lawyer Amjad Parvez finished arguing the case, telling the court that the PTI Chairman had conceded the accusation in his statement to the court, hence the prosecution did not need to prove the case.
He stated that the PTI Chairman claimed his tax records would reveal he did not commit dishonesty and that the accused had confirmed that the presents were taken from Toshakhana.
The PTI chief’s tax records were irrelevant to the case, the attorney continued. He explained that the PTI leader’s list of witnesses was disregarded since it included four tax consultants.
It’s amazing, Parvez continued, that the PTI chairman doesn’t own a car or jewelry. The PTI chairman only managed to amass four goats in that time period. Do you think it’s okay?
Meanwhile, a Supreme Court bench led by Justice Afrid0 dismissed the PTI chief’s bid to halt the Toshahkhana case trial.
The trial court was unable to rule definitively, according to the court, since the ECP attorney had requested a transfer. The bench, according to Justice Afridi, is not considering the merits of this matter.
The Quetta lawyer murder case appeal from the PTI chairman will be heard on August 9 by a separate bench led by Justice Afridi and included Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi.
The NAB Rawalpindi Office has also issued a summons to the PTI chairman on the $190 million bribery case. A combined investigating team has requested his presence this coming Saturday (today).
Accountability Court judge Muhammad Bashir granted the request for a one-day extension of the interim release of the PTI Chairman and his wife, Bushra Bibi.
Both the Tarnol Police Station and the Karachi Company Police requested the presence of the PTI Chairman on Saturday.
