By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a plea by former prime minister Imran Khan to stop a lower court from proceeding with a corruption case against him involving gifts from foreign dignitaries.
Khan is accused of making false statements and failing to declare the cash he earned after selling the gifts he received as head of state in the Toshakhana case.
The cricketer-turned-politician has denied any wrongdoing and challenged the jurisdiction of the trial court, which indicted him in May.
He also appealed to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to transfer the case to another judge, but the IHC sent it back to the same court and ordered it to decide the matter within seven days.
Khan then moved to the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the IHC’s order and halt the proceedings until his appeal was decided.
But a two-judge bench of the apex court refused to grant a stay and referred the case back to the IHC, saying it hoped that the high court would hear all pending petitions by Khan along with this case.
The Supreme Court also expressed displeasure at the noise created by Khan’s supporters outside the courtroom, saying it could not hear the case in such a situation and briefly left the bench until calm was restored.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified Khan in October last year under Article 63(1)(p) of the Constitution for making false statements and filed a complaint against him in the Toshakhana case.
The case stems from allegations that Khan received luxury vehicles and other gifts from foreign leaders when they were in office and did not report them or pay taxes on them as required by law.
Khan faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has called the case politically motivated and accused the coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of trying to undermine his party.
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