Imran Khan arrested after Islamabad court finds him guilty of ‘corrupt practices’ in Toshakhana case
The case against Imran Khan alleges that he “deliberately concealed” details of the gifts he retained from Toshaskhana during his prime minister term and proceeds from their reported sales.
Islamabad trial court also debarred Imran Khan from participating in active politics for five years.
This is the second time the PTI chief has been arrested in nearly three months; he’s been handed 3 years in jail, Rs100,000 fine imposed.
Now, Imran Khan technically stands disqualified from holding any public office for five years under Article 63(1)(h) of Pakistan's Constitution, says 'Dawn' report.
Imran Khan (till he was in office) readily played a captive of the cantonment shenanigans but later fell out !
The court sentenced Imran — who was absent from court — to three years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs100,000 on him while hearing the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) criminal complaint against the PTI chief for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts. His lawyers were also not present, reports 'Dawn'.
Even in May 2023, it was presumed that Imran Khan's political capital soared after he was removed as the Prime Minister. But now the three-year jail term could mean he cannot contest the ensuing elections.
Former Prime Minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan, shortly after an Islamabad trial court declared him guilty of “corrupt practices” in the Toshakhana case and sentenced him to three years in prison, was arrested by Punjab police on Saturday afternoon from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore.
Post May 9, 2023, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan can be best described as a politician created by the army and who grew up to defy the forces and has polarised his country in throwing up a challenge to the army for its unbridled political power.
Imran Khan had risen to power helped by the army by convincing the voters that he was the only clean politician in Pakistan - and that everyone else Sharifs, Bhuttos and Zardaris were corrupt.
But since his defeat in no trust motion, he has successfully circulated a theory that everyone opposing him is not only corrupt but an American puppet and so a traitor.
The army bosses were not spared. 'Eight killed in clashes as Imran lands in custody' - screamed a news headline on May 11th. On May 9th, Imran Khan was arrested. In a bid to control the worsening situation due to post-arrest violence, the authorities have called in the military in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad.
The deployment came a day after protesters stormed the residence of the corps commander in Lahore and tore down a gate of GHQ in Rawalpindi.
Such anti-army protests were unthinkable even a few years back.
Imran Khan's flip-flop on a variety of relations with the army also brought into light certain ugly things about the Pakistan army and its generals in public debate. Imran's earlier arrest in May came a day after the powerful military rebuked him for repeatedly accusing a senior military officer of ISI trying to engineer his assassination.
Imran had also accused former armed forces chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa of being responsible for his ouster from power in April 2022.
Pakistan has a long history of incarcerating individuals who have held the country's top executive office. All of it started way back in January 1962 when Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the fifth prime minister of Pakistan, was put behind bars by Gen Ayub Khan.
For similar and different reasons Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, his daughter Benazir and popular leader Nawaz Sharif also faced the same fate. Even now the new dispensation in Islamabad headed by Nawaz Sharif's brother
Shehbaz Sharif is backed by the army. one may also add that Benazir Bhutto's son and Zulfikar's grandson Bilalwal Bhtto Zardari too - paradoxically - is part of the new government.
Toshaskhana is a repository in Pakistan that keeps all the gifts and other valuable items that are presented to politicians and government officials by their foreign counterparts. - 'India Today'
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
In August 2022, Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf transferred the Toshakhana case against cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan to Pakistan’s Election Commission in line with the country’s constitution.
On September 19, 2022, the Election Commission of Pakistan reserved judgement in the ToshaKhana case against Imran Khan.
On October 21, 2022, the ECP concluded that Imran Khan made “false statements and incorrect declarations” about the gift and disqualified him under Pakistan's constitution. He has also lost membership of the Parliament.
On October 24, 2022, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected Imran Khan's plea to instantly suspend his disqualification.
On November 21, 2022, the ECP moved a session court in Islamabad for criminal proceedings against Khan.
On May 10, 2023, the trial court indicted Khan.
July 4, 2023: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) overturned the trial court's ruling on the maintainability of the case and directed it to rehear the petitioner and decide the matter within seven days.
July 8, 2023: Sessions Court Judge Humayun Dilawar declared the Toshakhana case against Khan as maintainable.
August 2, 2023: The trial court rejected the list of witnesses presented by Imran Khan.
August 4, 2023: Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq referred the matter back to the trial
court with a direction to re-examine the jurisdiction and any procedural lapse in the filing of the complaint by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
August 5, 2023: Judge Dilawar found Khan guilty of “corrupt practices” in the Toshakhana case and sent the PTI chief to jail for three years.
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