ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday adjourned the hearing on the appeal of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan against his conviction in the Toshakhana case without a final order as the Supreme Court awaited the IHC decision.
The court will resume the hearing tomorrow at 11:30 am. The court resumed hearing the appeal filed by former prime minister Imran Khan — currently incarcerated in Attock Jail — against his conviction and sentence in the Toshakhana case today.
A trial court in Islamabad had, on August 5, found the PTI chairman guilty of “corrupt practices” in the case pertaining to concealing details of state gifts and sentenced him to three years in prison. After the verdict, Khan also stood disqualified from contesting election for five years.
Imran had subsequently approached IHC against his conviction. In the meantime, he also approached the top court against the IHC’s decision to remand his case back to the Islamabad trial court which convicted him.
A day earlier, the Supreme Court had spotted procedural defects in Imran’s conviction by the trial court but at the same time, opted to wait for the IHC’s decision on the PTI chief’s plea seeking suspension of the three-year sentence.
“Prima facie the decision by the additional sessions judge (ASJ) contains defects, but we will not intervene at this stage; rather [we will] wait for the outcome of the high court decision,” Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial observed during Wednesday’s hearing before adjourning the proceedings for 2pm today.
