Imran’s Toshakhana sentence suspended, but former PM to remain in jail for cipher trial

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended on Tuesday Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s conviction and three-year sentence in the Tosha­k­h­ana case.

However, the former prime minister will remain in jail as a special court, established to hear cases related to the Official Secrets Act, directed the Attock Jail authorities to keep Khan in “judicial lockup” and produce him before the court August 30, 2023 (Wednesday).

Later, the Ministry of Law and Justice issued a notification that trail by the special court would be held in Attock jail due to “security concerns”.

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On Tuesday, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri announced the reserved verdict after both sides concluded their arguments on Imran’s appeal against his prison term.

PTI chairman’s aide on legal affairs Naeem Haider Panjotha said that the chief justice accepted their request and suspended the sentence. Panjotha wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the IHC further said that a detailed decision would be provided later.

The former PM is currently incarcerated at Attock jail.

Earlier, the PTI had filed a new petition in the IHC seeking directives to refrain authorities from further arrest of Imran in any case filed against him after August 5. The petition had named the state as a respondent.

Meanwhile, former PM and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Shehbaz Sharif said that Imran’s sentence had been suspended and “not terminated”.

“The Chief Justice of Pakistan’s message of ‘good to see you’ and ‘wish you good luck’ has reached the IHC,” he said. He claimed that “everyone knew about the verdict before it was even announced”.

“This moment is a matter of concern for our justice system. If a clear message is received from the higher judiciary, what else should the subordinate court do?”

Monday’s hearing

During the hearing on Monday, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) lawyer Advocate Amjad Pervaiz had presented his arguments for opposing the suspension of former PM’s jail sentence.

Pervez urged the bench to issue a notice to the State in the case, adding it is mandatory under the law. When Pervez concluded his arguments, Sardar Latif Khosa, representing Imran, said he did not have any objection to the ECP lawyer’s plea but demanded that it “should not be done” at this stage.

The ECP lawyer also referred to various laws and past court verdicts, including Indian National Congress’ Rahul Gandhi’s plea seeking suspension of his two-year sentence, which the lawyer said was rejected.

After hearing the arguments, the IHC had said it will announce the verdict on Tuesday (today).

Imran’s arrest

On August 5, Imran was arrested from his Lahore residence shortly after a district and sessions court in the federal capital found him guilty in the Toshakhana case and sentenced him to three years in prison.

In his petitions, Imran expressed dissatisfaction over the Additional Sessions Judge, Islamabad (West) order of August 5, whereby, he was convicted under Article 174 of the Election Act, 2017.

He added that the said impugned order was not sustainable and liable to be set aside.

The petitioner submitted that the impugned judgement had been passed “with a pre-disposed mind” of the learned trial judge to convict and sentence the appellant irrespective of the merits of the case. They stated that the impugned judgement had been passed without providing proper or adequate opportunity of hearing to the appellant.

Last year in October, the ECP had disqualified Imran from his parliamentary membership for filing “false” and “incorrect declaration” in his statement of assets and liabilities for the year 2020-21 filed with the electoral entity.

Background

Established in 1974, the Tosha­khana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.

Lawmakers from the ruling coalition had filed a reference last year against Imran alleging that he had not shared details of the gifts he retained from the Toshakhana and proceeds from their reported sales.