A trial court in Islamabad will hear Imran Khan’s petition against a criminal complaint filed against him by the country’s polls supervisory authority on Thursday. Khan is accused of making false declarations about his assets and liabilities.
Along with summoning Imran Khan to appear in court on July 6 [Thursday] at 8:30 a.m., Islamabad West District and Session Judge Humayun Dilawar issued notices to respondents on Wednesday, including the district election commissioner.
On Wednesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) criminal charge against former prime minister Imran Khan was accepted for hearing by the Islamabad High Court (IHC), which had previously approved Khan’s motion the day before.
The IHC remanded the case back to the court and ordered a new ruling within seven days.
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.”
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Six lawmakers in the National Assembly referred Imran Khan and his wife’s financial disclosures for 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 to NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Asharf last year on the grounds that they were false.
According to Article 63(2) of the Constitution, the speaker has submitted the issue to the ECP. After issuing letters to all parties involved, the ECP reached a decision on the subject and disqualified Imran Khan from running for office on October 21, 2022, based on Article 63(1)(p) of the Constitution and Sections 137, 167, and 173 of the Election 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 Election 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.
The former prime minister claimed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had filed the criminal complaint without proper authorization and that the complaint was time-barred under law because it was filed more than 120 days after the deadline for filing a statement of assets and liabilities.
On May 5, 2023, Imran Khan submitted another plea to have the case dismissed for failing to comply with section 193 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1908.
Both applications were denied by the court in a single ruling dated May 5, 2023. After the trial court dismissed his ECP suit on the grounds of “limitation” and “authorization,” Imran appealed to the IHC.
