According to the verdict delivered today, Imran and Bushra were barred from holding any public office for 10 years and slapped with a fine of Rs787 million each. While the PTI founder was presented during the hearing, his wife did not appear before the court.
The judge had already
closed the right of cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses and asked Imran and his spouse to record their statements under Section 342 (power to examine the accused) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Shahbaz Khosa, PTI lawyer Latif Khosa’s son, had been representing Imran and Bushra in the case. However, when the stage of cross-examining the witnesses arrived, lawyer Zaheer Abbas Chaudhry appeared before the court and submitted a Power of Attorney from Imran.
He sought more time to prepare for the case, at which the prosecution pointed out that Chaudhry was the ninth counsel from the defence side and termed it a part of delaying tactics.
A day ago, after the cipher case proceedings, Bushra Bibi
recorded her statement in the Toshakhana case, though Imran could not. During that hearing, Imran’s legal team had requested the court to restore the right of cross-examination but was turned down by the judge.
Today, accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir conducted the hearing at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, where the former premier is incarcerated.
After his attendance was marked, the court asked him about his statement, to which the former premier replied: “My statement is in the [prison] room. I was only called for marking attendance.”
He was then told to submit his statement immediately and “not waste the court’s time”.
“Why are you in a hurry? Even yesterday, the conviction was announced in haste,” the ex-prime minister said, referring to the verdict in the cipher case.
Bushra Bibi arrives at Adiala Jail to surrender to arrest after she was sentenced in the Toshakhana reference. — Screengrab from video provided by author
“My lawyers are not here yet. I will submit the statement after showing it to them when they come,” Imran said, adding that he had appeared before the court only to mark his attendance.
He then exited the courtroom, after which the court sentenced the ex-premier and his wife in absentia.
Following the verdict’s announcement, Bushra arrived at Adiala Jail, where the NAB team was already present, to surrender to the authorities following the court’s directives. She was subsequently taken into custody by the anti-graft watchdog.
PTI terms verdict ‘complete destruction of law’
Reacting to the conviction, the PTI said, “Complete destruction of every existing law in Pakistan in two days.”
In a post on X, the party said Imran and his spouse had faced “yet another kangaroo trial in which no right to defence was given to both”.
“Like cipher, this case has no basis to stand in any higher court. It’s shameful how a complete disregard and mockery of the law is in place,” the PTI added.
In another post, it said, “Big question marks arise on our judicial system now. How the cipher and Toshakhana cases were conducted exposed a complete disregard of law by trial court.”
Imran’s sister Aleema Khan said that the “judicial system has buried itself” today.
PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that the conviction was “not only injustice but cruelty”. In an apparent reference to the PML-N, he said the NAB was “withdrawing cases filed against a certain party” but at the same time was handing over “severe punishments just to make one leader happy”.
Speaking to
Geo News, he said, “We were not given time, were not given permission for cross-examination, despite there being a lawyer present.”
He claimed that Bushra had “no relation” to the Toshakhana case nor was there any case gift registered in her name.
“This is only to bring Khan
sahib under pressure,” he said, advising PTI supporters to remain calm and focus on the upcoming polls.
Hamid Khan, a senior lawyer and PTI leader, said that two convictions in two days showed how all the laws and procedures of a fair trial were exploited.
“No legal requirements were fulfilled, […] the permission to present witnesses was not provided. The statements under Section 342 were not even recorded properly,” he said while speaking to
Geo News.
Hamid said the party would appeal both the cipher and Toshakhana convictions in higher courts, while PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan announced the same.
“We should harness and channel these energies for the polling day on February 8, 2024 by ensuring a massive voter turnout,” Ayub asserted.
“Why does this system want to expose itself so badly? asked PTI’s Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra, while party leader Shahbaz Gill said the PTI was “hurt” by what was happening but was proud of Imran’s “bravery”.
PTI Senator and lawyer Ali Zafar said the verdict was rushed, adding that if cross-examination was not allowed then the conviction would be regarded as a mistrial.
Speaking to
Geo News, he said: “People are not worried by such trials.”
Speaking to the media outside the Islamabad High Court, Zafar said that reports of changing Imran’s counsel were “not correct”.
He said that Shahbaz Khosa had remained the lawyer from the beginning of the Toshakhana trial. He emphasised that there was a team of additional lawyers who were “not replacements” for the main counsel.
Zafar highlighted that Imran and Bushra’s counsels were neither allowed to cross-examine the prosecution witnesses nor were permitted to present their witnesses. The PTI senator said the party was filing an application to obtain a copy of the court order.
PTI lawyer Intazar Hussain Panjutha claimed that there were no witnesses in the cases against Imran, yet he was still given punishment.
‘Certified Toshakhana thief’
Meanwhile, the PML-N’s official X account said that “fake
sadiq and ameen” had been proven to be a “certified Toshakhana thief in front of the world today”.
PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar alleged that Imran had a “team that used to sell the items on the black market”, referring to Toshakhana gifts.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore, he claimed that the PTI founder undervalued Toshakhana gifts through local markets and then paid the required 50 per cent tax on that amount.
PML-N’s Attaullah Tarar and Marriyum Aurangzeb speak to media in Lahore. — DawnNewsTV
“The items were subsequently sold in the black market for a much higher price for profit. Farah Gogi, who’s an absconder in the case, played a key role in it,” the PML-N leader said.
Similarly, PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb alleged that government officials collaborated in the assessment to undervalue the gifts in the Toshakhana reference.
“It was a misuse of authority and they blamed everyone else for it,” she said in a separate press conference.
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