Toshakhana case: Imran Khan’s plea seeking suspension of arrest warrant rejected

The Islamabad District and Sessions Court rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan's plea to stay the non-bailable warrant issued against him in the Toshakhan case on Monday. After a brief hearing of the case, Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal announced the verdict, which he had reserved earlier in the day.

Khan's lawyers, Ali Bukhari, Qaiser Imam and Gohar Ali Khan, appeared in court today, according to reports. Bukhari claimed that the former prime minister of Pakistan had always followed court orders. The imam, on the other hand, argued that if Khan was willing to appear, the police could not arrest him. The judge then noted that the PTI chief could apply to the Islamabad High Court to stay the arrest warrant.

However, the imam informed the judge that they wanted him to suspend the court order. Bukhari further said that the PTI chief was at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore. "Imran Khan wants to know how he can appear in court," Bukhari said. Imam also said that a private complaint has been filed against the PTI chief under the Elections Act, 2017. He argued that arrest warrants are rarely issued on a private complaint and urged the court to stay the arrest warrant.

The judge said the PTI chief's lawyer had informed them that their client would not appear in court. The judge then reserved a verdict on the petition.

On February 28, Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal issued a non-bailable warrant against the cricketer-turned-politician for his continued failure to appear before the court in the Toshakhan case. Khan was wanted for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he received as prime minister at a discounted price from a state depository called Toshakhana, and selling them for a profit. In his asset declarations, he is accused of withholding details of gifts he kept from Toshakhana - a repository where gifts given to government officials by foreign officials are kept.

Officials are legally allowed to keep gifts provided they pay a predetermined amount, usually a fraction of the gift's value. The PTI chief on Sunday approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking bail after an Islamabad police team arrived at his residence in Zaman Park to arrest him for missing proceedings in the Toshakhan case. However, the police team returned empty-handed after Khan evaded arrest.

However, a newspaper report  mentioned that the LHC registrar objected to Khan's plea saying that complete documents were not submitted along with the petitions. Khan has not attended any hearing since November last year when he was injured in an assassination attempt on his rally in Punjab's Wazirabad area.

Khan was granted interim bail by a special court in Islamabad after he was shot dead in an assassination attempt. His bail has since been extended due to health reasons. Khan was ousted in April after losing a vote of no confidence in his leadership, which he claimed was part of a US-led plot to target him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.

The PTI chief, who came to power in 2018, is the only Pakistani prime minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament.