The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday ordered the release of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on bail in the Toshakhana reference case.
Imran Khan will be released on bail as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday suspended the former Pakistan prime minister’s conviction and three-year sentence in the Toshakhana case.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri gave the verdict.
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Earlier in August, an Islamabad court sentenced Imran Khan to a three-years in prison. The former prime minister is currently in the Attock Jail in Rawalpindi.
“The CJ has accepted our request, suspended the sentence and said a detailed decision would be provided later,” Imran Khan’s lawyer, Naeem Haider Panjotha, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the hearing.
A district and sessions court had found him guilty of corruption in matters related to the Toshakhana, which is the state gift repository. Imran Khan was also disqualified from holding any public office due to the conviction. He was arrested shortly after the court ruling earlier this month.
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Imran Khan filed the appeal in the Islamabad High Court against his conviction and also approached the Supreme Court against the decision taken by the high court where it remanded the case back to the trial court judge who had convicted him.
The lawyer representing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Amjad Pervaiz said the objections to the maintainability of the ECP’s complaint had no basis and the witnesses presented by Imran Khan’s legal team were not relevant because they were mere tax consultants.
Imran Khan’s legal team sought the suspension of his conviction and had urged the court to declare both the conviction and sentence in the case as illegal. It also said that the ECP’s complaint against Imran Khan was inadmissible.
Imran’s sisters Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan also were present in the court. Meanwhile, the former interior minister Rana Sanaullah said that Imran Khan will have to face arrest in several other cases pending against him.
Khan faces accusations that he purchased the gifts he received as prime minister at a very cheap rate and then sold them in the open market at high prices, earning staggering profits.
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He remains accused of misusing his 2018 to 2022 prime ministerial tenure to buy and sell gifts which were to be possession of the state and which were worth more than $635,000 or PKR 140 million.
There were watches given by a royal family which government officials allege that Khan’s aides sold in Dubai.
There were also seven wristwatches, six made by watchmaker Rolex and a very expensive “Master Graff” limited edition watch valued at PKR 85 million ($385,000) which were among the gifts that were sold.
The Toshakhana is a repository of gifts the premier receives during state visits abroad, foreign trips or when foreign officials visit the nation. They can keep gifts if they have a low worth but in case of very costly items they must pay a reduced fee to the government to procure it.
