What trial court did was wrong’: IHC CJ says decision on Imran Khan’s plea on Monday,
ISLAMABAD: In a recent development, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) adjourned the hearing till Monday [August 25] on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman’s plea to strike down his sentence in the Toshakhana case,
According to the details, the bench at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) – headed by Justice Amir Farooq – postponed the hearing on the plea to suspend PTI chairman’s sentence, as the election commission’s lawyer, Amjad Parvez, failed to appear before the court due to illness.
During the proceedings, the Chief Justice expressed his discontent with the actions of the trial court, asserting that they were in error.
The PTI Chairman’s lawyer, Sardar Latif Khosa, raised concerns about the former prime minister’s detention, he questioned, “whether he [PTI chief] would be kept in custody for an additional three days?”
Khosa emphasized that they would not attend the court if such practices persisted, urging the court to take whatever action they deemed necessary.
Latif Khosa urged the court to consider suspending the sentence immediately. He suggested that if the court found the arguments satisfactory on Monday, they could then decide whether to send Imran Khan back to jail.
Considering the election commission’s advocate Amjad Parvez illness, the court accepted the request for adjournment and postponed the hearing till Monday.
The PTI has criticised the trial court’s verdicy saying that the decision was announced in haste in the absence of the party chief and his lawyer.
The court then adjourned the hearing till Monday.
“We adjourn the case till Monday, and even if no one comes, we will annouce our decision,” Justice Farooq said, adding that what the trial court had done was wrong.
At this, the PTI counsel Latif Khosa remarked: “One person has been in jail for twenty days. Will [you] keep the PTI chairman in jail for another three days?
“We will not appear in court, do what you have to do.”
He requested the bench to suspend the sentence today.
“If you are satisfied with their arguments on Monday, then send them back to jail,” he requested.
Besides the sentence of incarceration, the additional district and sessions judge also imposed a fine of Rs100,000 after finding Khan guilty of graft in the Toshakhana case.
Following the PTI chief’s arrest, it is the third petition the party had filed.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Supreme Court (SC) Wednesday heard a petition challenging IHC’s decision to remand the case back to the trial court judge who had convicted him, and observed that the trial court had hastened Toshakhana’s verdict.
It acknowledged the “procedural defects” in Khan’s conviction but opted to wait for the IHC’s decision on the former premier’s plea seeking suspension of the three-year sentence.
