Islamabad High Court delivered a reserved verdict in the Toshakahana case on Tuesday, ruling that the trial court wrongly indicted Imran Khan.
The court not only declared the trial court’s decision as null and void but also said that Imran Khan’s lawyer would have to present his arguments again in the case.
Initial reports had suggested that the court had declared that the Toshakhana case was not maintainable. However, the written order revealed that the Justice Aamer Farooq did not quash the case completely.
The case now essentially enters a retrial in the lower court, with orders that it must be decided within seven days.
“The application in question shall be deemed to be pending and decided afresh by the learned trial court within seven days from the receipt of this judgment,” the judgement said.
Imran Khan had filed a request on Monday asking Justice Farooq to recuse himself from hearing cases against him in the interest of ‘justice and impartiality’.
ٰImran had argued that he was being implicated in political cases that could pose a risk to his political future.
A trial court had indicted Imran Khan for concealing assets in the Toshakhana case on May 10, a day after his arrest had led to protests across the country.
When he was released a day later on May 11, he approached the Islamabad High Court which stayed proceedings against the former prime minister.
The case then went through multiple hearings until June 23, when Justice Farooq reserved the verdict on whether the case against Imran Khan and his indictment were maintainable.
The Toshakhana case accuses Imran of not declaring gifts from foreign dignitaries that he took home on partial payment when he was head of government. The case particularly made headlines because of a watch gifted by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia that had the image of the Holy Kaaba on it.
Acting President Sadiq Sanjrani signed an ordinance on Tuesday increasing the physical remand under the National Accountability Bureau from 14 to 30 days.
The ordinance also said that the bureau’s chairman could order the arrest of individuals not cooperating with an investigation.
The hurried passing and signing of the ordnance led to specualtion that Imran Khan’s arrest could be on the cards as he was set to appear in the Toshakhana case. This is the same case that had led to his arrest in May from court premises.
However, the judgement of the Islamabad High Court has shown that Imran Khan might be safe from arrest, atleast for now.
