PTI founder’s plea seeking suspension of jail trials rejected

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday dismissed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s petition seeking the suspension of jail trial in the corruption references pertaining to Toshakhana gift and £190 million embezzlement, ARY News reported.   

A division bench of the IHC including Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri announced the verdict, reserved on January 24. “Detailed reasons will be issued in a written order,” the two-member bench said.

PTI founder Imran Khan had challenged his jail trial in the corruption references pertaining to Toshakhana gift and £190 million embezzlement.

During the last hearing, NAB lawyer Amjad Pervaiz told the court that Imran Khan was arrested on November 13 in the Al-Qadir Trust case. The arrest was made after getting permission from the Official Secrets Act special court, he added.

The AGP then submitted a report on the media coverage of the Al-Qadir Trust and Toshakhana cases.

Imran Khan’s lawyer, Shoaib Shaheen, remarked that after the latest amendment to the NAB law, the authority for appointing judges has changed.

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“The NAB submitted a request on November 13 and a summary was prepared the same day and the cabinet also approved it immediately,” Shoaib Shaheen said.

He further said that the AGP is saying the public had access to the court, adding that he could say it on record that lawyers who accompanied him were denied permission to enter the court.

“The judges have stopped all their work and are sitting in jail only for a trial in these cases,” Shoaib Shaheen remarked.

On January 9, an accountability court had indicted ex-premier Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana reference filed against them by the NAB.