ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday directed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan to submit his reply in Toshakhana case by September 7.
Barrister Gohar, the counsel for the PTI chairman, appeared before an ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, and requested for a week’s time to file the reply in the case.
Gohar said that the lead counsel barrister Ali Zafar for the PTI chairman is in Lahore due to some other engagements due to which he was unable to consult him regarding the case.
He assured the bench that he would try his best to submit the reply by the next hearing after consulting Barrister Zafar.
To this, the CEC said that everything was part of the record and that it should not take so much time to submit the reply.
However, the bench granted a week’s time to the PTI chief and the hearing was adjourned till September 7.
The Toshakhana case was brought before the ECP after Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) accepted an application on the issue and directed the Cabinet Division to provide information about the gifts received by the then-prime minister Imran Khan from foreign dignitaries.
However, the Cabinet Division had challenged the PIC order in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), claiming it was illegal.
The then government took the position that the disclosure of any information related to Toshakhana might jeopardise Pakistan’s international relations.
Meanwhile, talking to journalists outside the ECP, Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha of ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said that the PTI chief will have to answer his “misdeeds and brazen robberies” in Toshakhana.
He said that Imran Khan and his counsels managed to prolong prohibited funding case for eight years and they were using the same tactics to linger on Toshakhana case.
On next hearing, he added, the PTI chief’s lawyers will definitely seek another adjournment pleading that their relevant record was destroyed in recent floods.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
Comments
Comments are closed.