The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday suspended the non-bailable arrest warrants issued against former Pakistan PM Imran Khan till March 13.
Imran Khanthe PTI chairman, has been facing legal issues over his alleged purchase of gifts from the state depository called Toshakhana, and selling them for a profit. The gifts included an expensive Graff wristwatch, which he had received at a discounted price as the premier. Khan is accused of concealing details of the gifts he retained from the Toshakhana, where presents given to government officials from foreign officials are kept. Although officials are legally allowed to retain gifts, they must pay a pre-assessed amount, typically a fraction of the value of the gift.
In October 2022, the Election Commission of Pakistan ruled that Khan made “false statements and incorrect declarations” regarding the gifts. The ECP asked the Islamabad sessions court to proceed against Khan under criminal law for hiding the sale of gifts. Khan has been skipping court proceedings in the Toshakhana case, and on February 28, Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal issued a non-bailable warrant against him. Despite Khan filing a plea against the warrants, the judge rejected it and announced the verdict, which was reserved earlier in the day after hearing the arguments on the former premier’s application.
Khan approached the Lahore High Court on Sunday for post-arrest bail after the Islamabad police team arrived at his residence to arrest him for skipping proceedings in the Toshakhana case. However, the police team returned empty-handed after Khan evaded the arrest. The LHC registrar raised objections to Khan’s plea, stating that complete documents had not been submitted along with the petitions.
Since being injured in an assassination attempt at his rally in November last year, Khan has not attended any hearings. He was granted interim bail by a special court in Islamabad after the attack and has since received extensions on his bail due to medical reasons. In April 2022, Khan was ousted from power after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership. He alleged that this was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan. Khan is the only Pakistani Prime Minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament.