World News | Islamabad High Court Notice to Pakistan's Accountability Body on Imran Khan's Pleas Against Jail Trial
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. A Pakistan court has issued notice to the top accountability office and an interior ministry official on pleas by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan against his jail trial in the Toshakhana and embezzlement cases, according to a media report on Friday.
Islamabad, Jan 19 (PTI) A Pakistan court has issued notice to the top accountability office and an interior ministry official on pleas by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan against his jail trial in the Toshakhana and embezzlement cases, according to a media report on Friday.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued the notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the secretary of the Interior Ministry on Thursday in the Toshakhana gift and USD 241 million embezzlement cases against Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party.
IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Arbab Tahir have sought the NAB and the secretary's responses by January 22, Geo News reported.
The former prime minister also challenged the appointment of the accountability judge.
According to Khosa, the judge was appointed on deputation and he was about to retire. The judge was hearing the case on a daily basis to finish the trial, he said.
Imran's lawyer alleged that only his client's cases were being expedited, while other cases were left unheard.
Khan's lawyer Latif Khosa said the NAB filed the Toshakhana case in the accountability court on November 20 and the notification for jail trial was issued one month before the filing of the references.
“Hearing into the Toshakhana reference is being held daily since December 23, 2023. The relevant court's judge has to begin the jail trial process as per the law and this court has issued an order regarding implementation of that process,” he said.
Justice Hassan asked Khosa the reason why he challenged the notification late since it was issued in November and he filed his petition in January.
The PTI founder's lawyer replied that they got to know about the reference only after Khan received the summons.
Justice Hassan said they only had to make sure that the case's process was correct and it did not matter whether the trial was held in the court or jail.
Khosa said the judge concerned did not issue any direction to hold jail trial due to security concerns, to which, the judge said a short order pertaining to this was already available and the judicial order should have been seen (by Khan or his lawyer).
Justice Hassan said Toshakhana was the government's safe and the federal cabinet secretary was its keeper who had opened its “door for all.”
He said the items kept there were put on sale with 20-50 per cent discount. The gifts belonged to the state and they should remain with it, he added.
Justice Hassan further said that the politicians should “better start returning the gifts to the state”.
An accountability court had indicted Imran and his wife Bushra Bibi on January 9 in the Toshakhana reference filed against them by the NAB.
According to the case, the 71-year-old former prime minister and his wife received 108 gifts from various heads of state, out of which they kept 58 gifts. They were also undervalued by them while paying a mandatory price to the state.
The gifts included a jewellery set given from the Saudi Crown Prince which the couple retained at a low price instead of depositing it in the Toshakhana.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)