ISLAMABAD, Mar 6: An Islamabad-based district court on Monday refused to withdraw a non-bailable arrest warrant it issued last week against former prime minister Imran Khan for his failure to appear in the Toshakhana case.
Khan, 70, has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana, and selling them for profit.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief had filed an application in the Islamabad district and sessions court against the warrants issued on February 28 after Khan skipped several hearings in the case.
Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal, rejecting the plea, announced the verdict reserved earlier in the day after hearing the arguments on the former premier’s application.
“The accused was in a position to appear in this court on February 28 after his appearances in different honourable courts but he wilfully avoided appearing in this court,” the judge said in his order, adding that a warrant remains enforced until it is cancelled by the court which issued it or it is executed as per law.
The judge further stated that the accused had not surrendered himself before the court yet and no application for his personal appearance (for today) was annexed with the record.
“The accused has not appeared in court for ensuring his appearance in the trial in the future, therefore, the application is rejected,” according to the order.
On February 28, Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal issued a non-bailable warrant against Khan for continuously failing to appear before the court in the Toshakhana case.
In his assets declarations, Khan is accused of concealing details of the gifts he retained from the Toshakhana – a repository where presents handed to Government officials from foreign officials are kept.
Officials are legally allowed to retain gifts provided they pay a pre-assessed amount, typically a fraction of the value of the gift.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in October last year ruled that he made “false statements and incorrect declarations” regarding the gifts.
The ECP, later on, asked the Islamabad sessions court to proceed against Khan under criminal law for hiding the sale of gifts.
The PTI chief approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Sunday for post-arrest bail after an Islamabad police team arrived at his Zaman Park residence to arrest him for skipping proceedings in the Toshakhana case.
However, the police team returned empty-handed after Khan evaded the arrest.
However, the Dawn newspaper in a report said the LHC registrar had raised objections to Khan’s plea, saying that complete documents had not been submitted along with the petitions.
Khan has not attended any hearings since November last year when he was injured in an assassination attempt at his rally in the Wazirabad area of Punjab.
Khan was granted interim bail by a special court in Islamabad after being shot during the assassination attempt.
He has since received extensions on his bail due to medical reasons.
Khan was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan.
The PTI chief, who came to power in 2018, is the only Pakistani Prime Minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament. (PTI)
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