Toshakhana reference: Two witnesses record testimonies

RAWALPINDI: Two witnesses in the Toshakhana reference against the incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan have recorded their testimonies before the Accountability Court, ARY News reported on Saturday.

Accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir conducted the hearing of the Toshakhana reference at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

At the outset of the hearing, two witnesses recorded their testimonies, whereas, the lawyers cross-examined one of the witnesses who conducted an estimation of the Toshakhana gifts – which included a jewellery set and a bracelet watch – to ascertain its market value.

The witness confirmed that his company had been approached by Pakistan’s Consul General in Dubai to conduct an estimation of jewellery set and the bracelet watch.

He continued he was given the responsibility to search market value of the jewellery articles which he had completed and submitted an estimation report to the consul’s office in Dubai.

The witness claimed Mohsin Habib send pictures of the Graff jewellery set for estimation. According to the witness’ statement, the estimated value of the expensive Graff jewellery set was $19.492 million.

However, he admitted, the specification list of the article was not provided to the investigation officer (IO).

During cross-examination, the defence lawyer raised questions over a flaw in the estimation report as the diamond’s physical weight was mentioned in “gramme(s)” instead of “carat(s)”.

Responding to the question, the witness termed it a “clerical error”.

Meanwhile, the lawyer asked whether the consul general had been handed over a report prepared by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). However, the witness denied.

The lawyer further questioned the reasons for not providing the estimation report to the investigation officer (IO) if the market survey was not conducted in real. To this, the witness also rejected claims against the estimation process.

However, he admitted that the input documents from the diamond expert were also not handed over to the IO.

After the lawyer completed cross-examination, the accountability court adjourned the hearing till January 23.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Rawalpindi accountability court on Jan 9 indicted PTI founder Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana reference.

Toshakhana reference

The reference, which alleges that Imran failed to share details of the gifts he retained from the Toshaskhana (during his time as the prime minister) was filed by lawmakers from the ruling coalition last year.

The Toshakhana issue became a major sticking point in national politics after the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified the PTI chief for making “false statements and incorrect declaration” last month.

The judgement added that the former premier was found to be indulged in corrupt practices under sections 167 and 173 of the constitution. “A criminal proceeding will be initiated against him over filing a false statement.”

“His disqualification under Article 63, 1(P) has been for his current parliament membership”, the ECP said in its 36-page detailed judgment of the reference.

“The amount in his bank account was around half of the value of the state gifts. Imran Khan was bound to declare the cash and bank details in his returns but he didn’t declare it,” ECP decision read.

“Imran Khan being declared disqualified and unseated from his National Assembly seat,” the ECP said, adding: “He has been disqualified under Article 63, 1(P), over submitting a false statement and declaration”.

Following this, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had launched probe against former prime minister Imran Khan in Toshakhana case on March 9.