In a setback to former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, a session court on Thursday rejected his request to suspend non-bailable arrest warrants issued in connection with the Toshakhana case.
The court has ordered the police to arrest Khan by March 18 and produce him before it.
“We have given a detailed decision, what is the warrant, how is it,” said session Judge Zafar Iqbal.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Lahore High Court ordered Pakistan Police to halt their bid to arrest Imran Khan from his residence at Zaman Park in the Toshakhana case till 10 am Thursday. The order came a day after a clash erupted between PTI workers and law enforcement agencies outside the house of the cricketer-turned-politician.
On March 13, Additional District and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal issued an arrest warrant for the 70-year-old Khan and instructed the police to present him before the courts on March 18.
Imran Khan has attacked the Shehbaz Sharif government over attempts to arrest him by saying that those who are now in power will come down one day. Khan also said that people have witnessed how dictators and pharaohs fell from power.
“The people who are in power will come down one day. We have witnessed how dictators and pharaoh fall. There is no need to worry. Good times are coming soon,” Imran Khan told his supporters in a video address.
Imran Khan Claims ‘the State Wanted to Kill Me in Police Custody’
Imran Khan alleged that the state wanted to “torture and kill him in police custody,” a day after Punjab police failed to arrest him in a corruption case.
The former PM alleged that the government’s plan is to arrest him and send him to Balochistan. “My arrest is part of London plan. Their plan is clear to arrest Imran Khan and hold elections,” he said.
Imran Khan said this time he will run on merit in ticket disbursement. In 2018, there were reports of some corruption in ticket distribution, he added.
The PTI chief also called IG Punjab a “shameless person” and took a jibe at former Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, without taking his name and said, “Special thanks to Haji Sahib, the government is gone but the nation is united.”
Imran Khan accused the government of running a character assassination campaign against his wife Bushra Bibi. But they should remember that honor and humiliation are only in the hands of Allah Almighty, he said.
Khan said the government and its handlers do not want elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) provinces in 90 days and if this does not happen he will launch a struggle for the restoration of the Constitution in the country.
WHAT IS THE CORRUPTION CASE AGAINST IMRAN KHAN?
Imran Khan has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana, and selling them for profit.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana and selling them for profit.
As per a report by Indian Express, the Toshakhana controversy resurfaced in August 2022, when the coalition government, led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), filed a case against Imran, alleging that he failed to disclose information on gifts given to Toshakhana as well as the proceeds from the “illegal” sale of some of the gifts.
Toshakhana is a department under the administrative jurisdiction of the Cabinet Division that preserves presents and other expensive objects received by public authorities, the report explains. It was established in 1974 and is mandatory for officials to declare gifts and other such materials received to the Cabinet Division, according to its rules, it adds.
However, when Imran came to power in 2018, he refused to reveal details of the numerous gifts he received throughout his tenure, claiming that doing so would jeopardise relations with other countries, the report says.
Following that, the former prime minister issued a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) admitting to selling at least four such gifts but also claiming to have purchased them from the government for a percentage of their value. The Saudi crown prince had given him a Graff watch, as well as Rolex watches, exquisite cufflinks, a rare pen, and a ring.
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