Pakistan court gives one-day exemption to Imran Khan from appearance in Toshakhana case

Islamabad: A Pakistani court here on Thursday accepted former prime minister Imran Khan’s plea for personal exemption from the Toshakhana corruption case hearing, ordering his appearance before the court on Friday.

Khan, 70, was to appear in person before the Additional District and Sessions Court in Islamabad on Thursday.

The Toshakhana issue over the sale of state gifts received by the cricketer-turned-politician became a major issue in national politics after the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified Khan for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”.

Khan has been accused of misusing his 2018 to 2022 premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than Rs 140 million (USD 635,000).

The Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.

A sessions court in Islamabad on Thursday granted an exemption to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister after his counsel Gohar Ali Khan told Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar that his client was due to appear before the Lahore High Court and requested the court to fix any date for hearing after July 10.

The court accepted the plea for personal exemption from the Toshakhana case hearing, ordering Khan's appearance before the court on Friday, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Despite the request for extended exemption, the court granted PTI chief Khan a day-long exemption while instructing his counsel to ensure the former prime minister’s presence in court the following day, the report added.

The sessions court took up the case on Thursday a couple of days after the Islamabad High Chief Justice Aamer Farooq overturned the ruling of the local court against Khan's challenge to the maintainability of the Toshakhana case and remanded the case back to the trial court to re-examine the matter within seven days.

Khan was indicted in the Toshakhana case on May 10 by Additional Sessions Judge Dilawar, who rejected objections about the admissibility of the case.

Khan had challenged the admissibility of the case before the IHC which set aside the verdict of the trial court. The IHC bench had stated that the trial court had dismissed the petition of the former prime minister on weak grounds.

The bench asked the lower court to consider the petition of Khan as pending.

Khan is facing more than 140 cases across the country and faces charges like terrorism, violence, blasphemy, corruption and murder.