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| What is the Tosha Khana case and what is Imran Khan's way after the sentence? |
The District Court of Islamabad has sentenced Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan to three years in prison and a fine of Rs 100,000 in the Tosha Khana case. After this decision came out, the Punjab Police arrested former Prime Minister Imran Khan from his residence located in Zaman Park of the provincial capital Lahore.
Tehreek-e-Insaf has rejected this decision as 'biased' and has said that the chairman of Tehreek-e-Insaf has been targeted for political revenge, however, Federal Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb has said that the arrest is to fulfill all legal requirements. The latter has been implemented.
After the arrest, an emergency meeting of the core committee of Tehreek-e-Insaf was held, according to which PTI workers have been called for a nationwide 'peaceful' protest.
The case in which Imran Khan was convicted is known as the Tosha Khana reference.
Under this reference, Imran Khan was disqualified by the Election Commission in October last year. This period of disqualification was until the current assembly.
The Election Commission declared Imran Khan ineligible and issued an order to institute a criminal case against him. As a result of this decision, a criminal claim was filed against Imran Khan in the local court of Islamabad, the hearing of which has been going on for the past several months.
Let's first know what is Tosha Khana's reference at the end?
What is Tosha Khana's case?
The Tosha Khana case against former Prime Minister Imran Khan started when Muslim League-N member National Assembly Barrister Mohsin Nawaz Ranjha filed a reference against him which was sent to the Election Commission by the Speaker of the National Assembly.
The reference claimed that Imran Khan bought gifts from the government treasury but did not declare them in the asset declarations submitted to the Election Commission, thus constituting 'bad faith', hence he was charged under Article 62 One (f) of the Constitution. ) to be disqualified under
According to the copy of the reference, the petitioner had said that Imran Khan was legally required to deposit all the assets of himself, his wife, and his dependents in the Election Commission of Pakistan at the end of every financial year.
The document also alleged that Imran Khan 'deliberately' hid the gifts taken from the Tosha Khana and that he had accepted, as various media reports said, that he had sold the gifts. But their sale was also hidden in the Election Commission documents.
According to the document, former Prime Minister Imran Khan received a total of 58 gifts during his tenure, including various items including a 'Mecca Edition' watch by Graf. These gifts were obtained by Imran Khan by paying 20 and later 50 percent of the money from Tosha Khana.
Many of them cost less than 30,000 rupees, so according to the law, they could get these gifts for free, while gifts worth more than 30,000 rupees had to pay 20 percent of the cost (50 percent after the change in the law). were obtained by doing
Written verdict in Tosha Khana case: 'The accused's misconduct is proved beyond doubt'
In the Tosha Khana case, Additional Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar has written in his judgment that the accused, namely Imran Khan, has been proven against the accused for giving fake details of assets in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 despite receiving Tosha Khana gifts.
It says that Imran Khan received benefits from the public treasury but "deliberately concealed" it, which "found him guilty of corruption."
"They hid information about receiving gifts from Tosha Khana, (the information they provided) was later proved to be false." Their dishonesty is proved without any doubt.
In this court decision, it is written concerning Section 174 of the Election Act 2017 that he is sentenced to three years imprisonment and a fine of one lakh rupees if this charge is proven.
"If they fail to pay (the fine), they will be sentenced to another six months in prison."
Judge Humayun Dilawar wrote in the last paragraph of the judgment that "The accused are not present in the court today, so a copy of the judgment and warrant for arrest should be sent to IG Islamabad."
It should be noted that the Additional Sessions Judge has also written in the judgment that no one appeared in the court to give arguments on behalf of the accused till 12 noon, after which the court pronounced a safe verdict at 12:30.
What gifts did Imran Khan buy?
The gifts taken during the first two months of Imran Khan's government include a graph watch, the value of which is estimated at Rs. , a pen worth 15 lakhs and a ring worth 8750 thousand were also included.
Imran Khan deposited more than two crore rupees for these four items and got these gifts from the government treasury.
Similarly, a Rolex watch worth 38 lakhs, Imran Khan bought it for 7.5 lakhs.
Another Rolex watch valued at Rs 15 lakh was bought by the former prime minister for around Rs 2.5 lakh.
Similarly, on another occasion, a box containing watch and cuff links, etc. was worth 49 lakhs, half of which was paid, while a set of jewelry was bought for 90 lakhs, the value of which was more than 180 lakhs. had gone
According to the documents, the watch that was alleged to have been sold was not recorded in the Election Commission reports.
It should be noted that this watch was taken as a gift by former first lady Bushra Bibi during her first visit to Saudi Arabia. It is said to be worth 85 million, which was taken after a 20 percent payment from Toshakhana.
What options does Imran Khan have now?
According to Pakistani law, Imran Khan has the right to approach the higher courts against this sentence.
According to correspondent Shehzad Malik, the first option among the legal options available to former Prime Minister Imran Khan after being sentenced is to challenge the decision in the Islamabad High Court.
According to Shahzad Malik, a possible relief for Imran Khan in case of an injunction by the court is that the court can suspend his punishment till the decision after hearing the arguments.
In this case, the court may also order Imran Khan to be released on bail.
According to Shahzad Malik, if the High Court upholds his sentence, he will have the last option to appeal to the Supreme Court.