ISLAMABAD: A petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan challenging his conviction in the Toshakhana case will be heard by a two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on August 22.
The bench, comprises of IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Jahangiri, will hearing the case.
In the petition, Imran Khan requested the court to declare the judgment of the trial court as illegal and set it aside.
The PTI chief was sentenced to three years in prison and fined Rs100,000 by Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Humayun Dilawar on August 5, 2023, after being found guilty of graft in the much trumpeted Toshakhana case. This verdict also resulted in his disqualification for five years.
The petition raises several grounds for the denunciation and overturning of the conviction. One of the arguments put forth is that the judgment is “totally misdirected” and that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence against the appellant, causing the judgment unwarranted by law.
Furthermore, the petition contends that the verdict of AD&SJ Dilawar was based on hyper-technical grounds and misinterpretation of the law rather than concrete evidence.
It also alleges that the judge did not consider crucial factors, such as the cost of assets, as mentioned by Khan’s accountant. The petition raises concerns about the fairness of the trial, asserting that the judgment was seemingly pre-determined and biased. It highlights that the judge took only 30 minutes to dictate over 35 pages of the judgment, suggesting that it was written even before hearing the defense’s arguments.
In conclusion, the petition seeks the declaration of the conviction as illegal and the acquittal of Imran Khan from the charges leveled against him in the Toshakhana case. It asserts that the judgment is null in the eye of the law and requests the court to set it aside.
