By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A court in Islamabad on Saturday ordered former Prime Minister Imran Khan to face trial for allegedly concealing income from gifts he received from foreign governments during his tenure, a lawyer for the complainant said.
The Session Court in ISlamabad rejected Khan’s plea to dismiss the complaint, which was filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after he failed to declare the gifts in his asset statements.
The gifts, which included luxury watches and jewellery, were given to Khan when he was in power from 2018 to 2021.
Former Prime Minister is accused of depositing them in a state-run repository known as Toshakhana, or treasure house, and later obtaining them at nominal prices.
The ECP had disqualified Khan from holding public office under Article 63(1)(p) of the Constitution in October last year and sought proceedings against him under criminal law for allegedly misleading officials about the gifts he received from foreign dignitaries.
The case, filed by ruling party lawmakers, is based on a finding by the ECP that Khan had made “false statements and incorrect declarations” regarding the gifts he retained from the Toshakhana and proceeds from their reported sales.
Khan’s lawyer, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, said he would challenge the court’s decision in a higher forum.
Khan’s lawyer said he was “deeply upset” by the court’s verdict and that “the law had been murdered”.
He had sought an adjournment of the hearing till Monday, citing security concerns and the absence of his senior counsel, Khawaja Haris.
But the judge Humayun Dilawar said he had to comply with an order from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to decide the matter within a week.
Judge Dilawar summoned the witnesses for testimony on July 12.
Earlier this week, the IHC overturned a previous ruling by the trial court that had dismissed Khan’s petition and ordered it to hear his arguments again.
Khan, who led the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to power on an anti-corruption platform, lost a confidence vote in parliament in March after his coalition partners withdrew their support.
He has denied any wrongdoing and accused the ruling coalition of political vendetta and said the case was aimed at disqualifying him from contesting future elections.
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