By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday said it would wait for a lower court’s ruling on a plea to suspend the three-year jail sentence of former prime minister Imran Khan, who was convicted in a corruption case earlier this month.
The court also slammed the “procedural defects” in the conviction of Khan by an additional sessions judge on August 5.
Khan, the leader of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was sentenced to three years in prison on August 5 by a trial court for failing to declare his assets in a case related to gifts from foreign leaders.
The Supreme Court, hearing Khan’s challenge to an IHC order, said the trial court’s decision “contains defects” and “defied” the high court’s directions.
“Prima facie the decision by the additional sessions judge contains defects, but we will not intervene at this stage; rather wait for the outcome of the high court decision,” Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said.
The Islamabad High Court is set to hear Khan’s appeal and his request for bail on Thursday.
The Supreme Court noted that Khan had expressed his intention of producing a defence witness before the trial court, but his request was turned down as irrelevant.
The court also acknowledged that Khan was behind bars since August 5 and his plea was pending before the high court.
“Out of respect to the high court, we will wait for the decision in the matter,” Bandial said.
Khan, who led Pakistan from 2018 to 2022, has denied any wrongdoing and accused the country’s powerful military of orchestrating a “witch-hunt” against him.
Khan’s lawyer, Sardar Latif Khosa, told the Supreme Court that the trial court had ignored the jurisdiction and maintainability issues raised by his client and had sentenced him without hearing his defence witnesses.
The Election Commission of Pakistan, which filed the complaint against Khan, conceded that the trial court had made some errors, but said Khan could seek remedy from the high court.
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