Toshakhana case: Court records testimonies against PTI chief

ISLAMABAD: In a major development, a witness in the Toshakhana case against former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman on Thursday recorded his statement.

Earlier in the day, Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar decided to record the testimonies of witnesses in the case.

The Toshakhana case was declared maintainable against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman, last week.

After being directed by Judge Humayun Dilawar, the Election Commission of Pakistan, presented District Election Commissioner Waqas Malik as a witness in the case.

Waqas Malik in his statement before the court said according to the response of the PTI chairman, the gifts were sold that’s why the value was not registered on Form B in 2019.

During the hearing, the PTI chairman failed to produce any receipt or the record of the buyer of the Toshakhana gifts, Malik said.

He submitted fake documents before the ECP and lied, Malik alleged.

Read more: ‘PTI chief could face disqualification for hiding Toshakhana gifts’

The election commission had last year in October disqualified the former prime minister in the Toshakhana reference under Article 63(1)(p) of the Constitution for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”.

The former prime minister had challenged the trial court’s decision in the Islamabad High Court, which sent the case back to the trial court for re-examination within seven days.

The court declared the case maintainable and rejected the plea for adjournment.