Imran Khan disqualified in Toshakhana case

By Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Election Commission on Friday disqualified former prime minister Imran Khan for holding public office on corrupt practices, plunging the country into fresh turmoil as Khan’s party called country-wide protests against the decision.

A five-member bench, headed by chief election commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, gave a unanimous decision in the Toshakhana case against the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf chief.

The commission also decided to initiate legal proceedings against the PTI chief.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhary asked party supporters to come out on the streets in protest. “We have no faith in ECP… the verdict will be challenged in the supreme court,” Chaudhary told media outside the commission.

Khan, who came to power in 2018, apparently received expensive gifts from rich Arab rulers during official visits, which were deposited in the Toshakhana. Later he bought the same at a discounted price as per the relevant laws and sold the same at hefty profits.

Though morally apprehensive for rulers like Khan, who always takes a high moral ground and leaves no occasion to criticize his opponents as “corrupt”, the purchase and sale were legally allowed.

During the hearing, the former premier informed the ECP that the sale of the gifts he had procured from the state treasury after paying Rs 21.56 million fetched about Rs 58 million.

The gifts, among others, included a Graff wristwatch, a pair of cufflinks, an expensive pen, a ring, and four Rolex watches.

However, his opponents say Khan failed to show the sales in the income tax returns, making him liable.

The case was filed with the ECP seeking his disqualification under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution, suggesting disqualification if someone is not truthful.

Established in 1974, the Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.