Pakistan court hearing on Imran Khan's appeal against his conviction in Toshakhana corruption case

Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court on Thursday resumed hearing on an appeal filed by jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan challenging his conviction and sentence by a sessions court in the Toshakhana corruption case.

Judge Humayun Dilawar of the Islamabad-based court on August 5 sentenced Khan, 70, to three years in prison for hiding the proceeds from the sale of state gifts.

The case was launched in October last year on the complaint of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) which had earlier disqualified Khan in the same case.

Khan within days had challenged the conviction in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), seeking to suspend his sentence and overturn the judgment.

The court held the initial hearing on August 22 but adjourned the cases till August 24 after the ECP Lawyer Amjad Pervez stated that he had not been provided with the record of the case and needed time to prepare.

Khan’s lawyer Latif Khosa opposed the move by the ECP counsel and pressed for a hearing and grant of request to suspend the sentence of Khan.

However, the panel of judges comprising chief justice Amer Farooq and justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri granted the request of the ECP lawyer and adjourned the hearing until Thursday.

During Thursday's hearing, Khan’s lawyers are expected to argue for the suspension of the sentence. Their case has been strengthened after the Supreme Court in its hearing on petitions on the case on Wednesday observed that there were “shortcomings” in the Toshakhana case judgment of the sessions court.

The apex court also stated it would wait for the IHC hearing before giving its judgment and is set to hear the case at 2.00 pm on Thursday. Khan is currently lodged in the Attock Jail.

The case alleges that Khan had “deliberately concealed” details of the gifts he retained from the Toshaskhana - a repository where presents handed to government officials from foreign officials are kept - during his time as the prime minister from 2018 to 2022 and proceeds from their reported sales.

According to Toshakhana rules, gifts/presents and other such materials received by persons to whom these rules apply shall be reported to the Cabinet Division.

According to reports, Khan received 58 gifts worth more than Rs 140 million from world leaders during his three-and-a-half-year stint and retained all of them either by paying a negligible amount or even without any payment.