PTI to move SC as Imran Khan's disqualification remains intact

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will tomorrow (Friday) move the Supreme Court against the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) verdict in the Toshakhana case of party founder Imran Khan, hoping to get relief for the now-disqualified ex-prime minister.

In another blow to the incarcerated PTI supreme leader ahead of the upcoming general elections, the IHC had earlier today dismissed his plea seeking suspension of the trial court’s verdict in the Toshakhana case.

As a result of the IHC’s ruling, Imran, the only prime minister to be voted out from office in Pakistan’s more than seven-decade-long history, remains disqualified from contesting elections.

The high court’s ruling came a day before the deadline to submit nomination papers for elections for provincial and national assemblies that are scheduled for February 8, 2024.

The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was sent to jail for three years on August 5 after being found guilty of selling state gifts during his 2018-22 tenure as prime minister — charges he denies.

In his plea filed in the IHC — the same court that had suspended his sentence — Imran sought to nullify the conviction. This sentence has barred him from running for office for five years.

"Imran Khan's request to suspend the decision in the Tosha Khana criminal case was rejected so that disqualification would remain (in place)," his lawyer and spokesman on legal affairs, Naeem Haider Panjutha, said on X.

IHC’s two-member bench — comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri — said in its order that the PTI founder’s petition was not maintainable, therefore, it was dismissed.

The order mentioned that Imran’s lawyer had urged the IHC, during arguments, to suspend the judgment under Section 426 (suspension of sentence pending appeals) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had already issued a notification to disqualify the ex-PTI chief.

The PTI founder’s legal team had informed the IHC that it had the jurisdiction to suspend the judgment under the said provision.

But the two-member bench’s order noted that CrPC Section 561 (inherent powers of the court to save the ends of justice) could be invoked to “correct error or prevent the abuse of process of the court or to secure the ends of justice”.

“Bare reading of the application for suspension filed by the appellant shows that it was for suspension of the sentence only,” it said, noting that the main grounds for seeking the suspension of the judgment was ECP’s notification disqualifying the PTI founder.

Talking to Geo News’ anchor Shahzeb Khanzada, Latif Khosa, a senior PTI leader and Imran’s lawyer, said the party would move the top court seeking nullification of the IHC verdict.

Khosa, who left the Pakistan Peoples Party to join PTI, alleged that the lower court’s conviction of Imran was tantamount to “jurisdictional incapacity” and called the order “void”.

The PTI leader maintained that the high court claimed that the legal team did not provide many facts, but “I did provide all facts in my arguments [...] I said them repeatedly”.

“Imran Khan’s basic rights are not being granted,” Khosa said, alleging that IHC CJ Farooq was “biased” against the PTI leadership.

Khosa added that trying to keep a big party out of the elections could not ensure their credibility. “There’ll be uncertainty. If we don’t have political stability, then we can’t have economic stability.”