Imran Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), attempted to overturn the trial court’s decision and his conviction in the Toshakhana case on Tuesday by knocking on the Supreme Court’s (SC) door once more.
After correcting the earlier objections presented by the Supreme Court Registrar’s Office, the PTI leader’s attorneys filed an appeal against his Toshakhana conviction.
This morning, the appeal was refiled to the SC office following the correction of the objections.
Upon finding Khan guilty of graft in the case, Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Humayun Dilawar sentenced the former prime minister to three years in prison and fined him Rs100,000.
Khan was barred from holding any public office for five years following his conviction in the case.
To challenge the February 8, 2024 general elections, the deposed PM filed a petition with the supreme court on Saturday, challenging the ruling of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the Toshakhana case. His goal was to reverse the conviction in that case.
But the PTI supremo’s request to have the trial court’s decision suspended was turned down by the IHC.
Khan attempted to overturn the conviction in his plea submitted to the IHC, the same court that had halted his sentencing.
Khan claimed in the new plea that his sentence in the Toshakhana case had already been suspended and hence appealed the IHC’s decision to be stayed.
He argued that the trial court’s decision to suspend merely his sentence rather than the complete order of conviction, which prevents him from seeking public office, violates his fundamental right to contest elections.
Khan had asked for his conviction to be suspended so that he could run for office, but the two-member bench of the IHC had denied his motion on December 21.
Toshakhana, which means “treasure house” in Persian, has laws that allow government officials to keep presents that are of modest value while requiring them to pay a drastically reduced price to the government for extravagant ones.
Ever since the claims surfaced that Imran Khan bought the presents he was given as prime minister at discount prices and then sold them for enormous profits on the open market, the Toshakhana has been scrutinized closely.
The 70-year-old former cricket player who is now a politician was charged with abusing his leadership from 2018 to 2022 to purchase and sell presents that were obtained on foreign trips and valued at over Rs140 million ($635,000).
Government officials claim that timepieces from a royal family were among the gifts; they have previously claimed that Khan’s aides sold the watches in Dubai.
In addition, there were seven wristwatches among the gifts, including the priciest “Master Graff limited edition” at 85 million Pakistani rupees ($385,000) and six created by watchmaker Rolex.
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