Frustrated Imran opens new front, shows no-trust in Pak judiciary

ISLAMABAD: After disclosure of Toshakhana wristwatch sale to a businessman, former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has got so much frustrated that firstly he threatened Geo Group and then expressed no confidence in Pakistan’s judicial system, which is akin to contempt of court.

In his address to the long march participants through video-link on Saturday, he said the PMLN was behind the wristwatch ‘story’, which was created by Geo News against him. “The story raised the questions that what I did with the watch. I will file a defamation suit in the country also, but I feel regrets to say that I have no hope of getting justice here,” Imran Khan told his party members.

“That’s why, I am going to the USA; I’ll file a suit there. I am going to the UK, and I’ll file a defamation suit there also. I will file a suit against Geo, Shakil-ur-Rahman and his group. I will also file a law suit against them in Dubai,” former premier said.

Then Imran Khan asked the audience why he was filing cases there, and then himself replied that he was confident that he would get justice in those countries. Imran Khan said they [Geo News] had defamed his repute. “I have fought legal cases there. In the UK, I had fought a big case against Ian Botham.

“That case continued for three weeks. It made headlines [in newspapers]. It was a damages case, and I know it well how a case is fought there,” claimed the PTI chief. He expressed his belief that Geo News would be imposed fine there. Pakistanis would also see it for themselves as to what had happened, and “our courts should also witness it”, he added.

It is very strange that he is blaming Geo Group, that it created a story against him. Fact of the matter is that he bought a wristwatch from Toshakhana, and made part of official record the money he had received as a result of its sale. Geo News only performed its professional responsibility of bringing before the public the buyer, Umar Farooq Zahoor. That buyer not only showed the wristwatch and other articles he had purchased, but also provided documentary evidence to prove that it was the same wristwatch which was given by Saudi Arabia crown prince to the then prime minister Imran Khan as a gift.

Umar Farooq claimed the watch was sold by Farah Gogi, a friend of the wife of Imran Khan. Shahzeb Khanzada, the host of the programme, time and again invited the PTI leadership to come forward and present their stance in the programme. It was their decision not to come to the platform of Geo. Rather they started levelling allegations and threatened to sue the channel. Imran knows he purchased the watch from Toshakhana and then sold it. After price evaluation, he deposited 20 per cent of the price in Toshakhana. However, Shahbaz Gill claimed Imran deposited 50 per cent amount of the watch price.

Showing naivety, Imran, now says it’s mere a story. What to talk about allegations against Geo News, he expressed no-trust in the judiciary in Pakistan, saying he expects no justice from it. He said he would go to America, Britain and the UAE to file cases. Imran needs self-accountability as he has no trust in a single institution of the country. He wants to make all of them controversial.

Imran has every right to seek judicial remedy, but question remains, whether he is the only person who is right and all other institutions are wrong.