IHC adjourns hearing of plea against conviction of Imran Khan in Toshakhana case,
SC maintains stay against PTI chief’s arrest in lawyer murder case,
ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) on Thursday postponed the hearing on the petition challenging the sentence of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief in the Toshakhana case until the Islamabad High Court issues its order.
The Toshakhana case was heard by a three-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Atta Bandial.
It is praiseworthy that the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court is looking into the matter, and it would be better to let the High Court decide on this matter first, CJP Bandial remarked.
Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial asked if anyone from the Attorney General’s Office was present. In today’s order, the conditions of the PTI chief’s detention would be questioned, and a report has been requested regarding the facilities provided to him.
Chairman PTI’s lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa stated that he had presented arguments before the High Court, and now his arguments have been heard.
It is expected that the High Court will decide on his points.
Justice Jamal Mandokhail inquired about the outcome of the High Court’s action, to which the Chief Justice of Pakistan praised the system, where the High Court makes the initial decision before the Supreme Court.
Justice Jamal Mandokhail suggested not to criticise the judges of the Islamabad High Court.
Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial remarked that judges are often criticised in the media, but they will continue to make decisions based on their duty under the constitution and law.
The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on the petition until the order of the Islamabad High Court. Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court has also adjourned the hearing of the Toshakhana case until tomorrow, and the lawyers of the Election Commission will continue their arguments tomorrow.
It should be noted that during the hearing of the PTI Chairman’s sentence and the case of no confidence against the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court, the Chief Justice of Pakistan also remarked that the trial court’s decision was prima facie incorrect.
Earlier,
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has adjourned the hearing of the plea against PTI chief and former prime minister Imran Khan’s conviction in Toshakhana case for tomorrow (Friday) after arguments from both the prosecution and the defence,
A two-judge bench of IHC led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard the plea.
As the proccedings were set into motion, PTI lawyer Lateef Khosa while presenting his arguments contended before the IHC that there were three grounds pertaining to the suspension of a conviction. “One is a short sentence,” he said, adding: “The second is about the jurisdiction of the court.”
Khosa maintained that a sessions court did not have the jurisdiction to hear ECP’s appeal. “It should have sorted out the jurisdiction problem first,” he added.
Khosa said that as per the ECP’s definition the body comprises of ECP chief and its members. “According to the law, the ECP has the right to let any of its employees file a complaint,” he said and added “In this case, the election commission secretary authorised the district election commission. There is no authorisation by the commission itself in this case.”
Khosa further said that the sessions court announced the verdict without deciding the matter related to the jurisdiction and authorisation. He argued the trial court even overlooked the high court’s order and that the trial court’s decision had a lot of loopholes. “IHC accepted our appeal in the face of the trial court’s order,” he said and added “The high court had sent the case back to the trial court for a decision.”
Khosa maintained the high court ordered the trial court to answer the questions raised by the defence in its decision but it did not give sufficient time to the defence.
While presenting his arguments before the court, Amjad Pervaiz, a lawyer for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), said that a plea of the PTI chairman regarding the right to defence was pending in the Supreme Court (SC) and a single bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
“This bench cannot make any observations on the matter as it is being heard in the Supreme Court and the IHC single bench,” he added.
“This bench has been sandwiched between the Supreme Court and the IHC single bench,” IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq remarked.
“A petition was filed in the Supreme Court against the decision of the IHC. The trial court declared the witnesses of the PTI chairman irrelevant,” Amjad Pervaiz told the court.
“The returns are submitted in consultation with the consultant. It is the client who has to tell what his assets are. The accountant does not write anything on his behalf. The client tells. He [Imran] showed four goats in the returns but did not disclose the other relevant items,” he stated.
While,
The Supreme Court on Thursday maintained its stay order against the arrest of PTI chairman in a lawyer murder case in Quetta.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the petition against addition of the former prime minister’s name in FIR.
During the course of proceeding, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail inquired that if the accused had joined the investigation as per the direction of the High Court. He remarked that the accused had to settle whether he would join the investigation or not.
The former premier’s lawyer Latif Khosa Advocate said that his client wouldn’t appear before the joint investigation team (JIT), adding that anti-terrorism law couldn’t be applied in this case against the PTI chief.
The chief justice remarked that the bench also had other questions in the case, but it couldn’t hear it in the absence of the complainant.
Lawyer Abdul Razzaq Shar had been shot dead by the firing of the unknown accused in Quetta on June 6. The son of the slain lawyer had named four people in FIR including the PTI chief.
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