By Staff Reporter
Islamabad: The government has deployed extra police force along with paramilitary rangers around the election commission office in the capital, Islamabad, in case Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf supports try to react violently in response to a decision on Toshakhana disqualification case filed against former prime minister Imran Khan due today.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will announce its verdict, reserved on September 19 at the conclusion of the proceedings, by 2 pm on Friday.
Over 1,100 police and paramilitary troops were deployed in the Red Zone. Besides, all the entry points to the zone, except a few, will remain sealed till the conclusion of the ECP verdict.
The ECP in a letter to the Islamabad police requested foolproof security inside and outside its premises for the full day to ‘avoid any untoward incident’. It also requested security personnel in civil dress and traffic wardens. The ECP stressed that all necessary security arrangements be completed, particularly inside the ECP Secretariat building, and the matter is treated as “most urgent”.
The lawmakers in the ruling coalition filed a case with the ECP in August against Khan, seeking his disqualification for failing to reveal the proceeds from the sale of gifts that he purchased at a discounted price from the state repository, also called Toshakhana.
The ECP ordered all the relevant parties or their counsels to appear before the electoral watchdog at its secretariat in Islamabad.
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 castigate his opponents as “corrupt”, the purchase and sale were legally allowed.
The former premier informed the ECP during the hearing that the sale of the gifts that 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 filed with the ECP seeks his disqualification under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution which suggests 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.
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