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PTI chairman secures protective bail in Toshakhana fraud case

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  • Fake receipt is used showing sale purchases of gifts: complainant.
  • “The accused persons have never sold them any such items.”
  • PTI chairman says he is “falsely implicated” in the FIR.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday granted interim protective bail to former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan till June 21 in a case related to alleged fraud in the sale of gifts he retained from the Toshakhana — a repository where presents handed to government officials by foreign officials are kept.

A day earlier, the first information report (FIR) was filed at Islamabad’s Kohsar police station, accusing the deposed premier — who was removed from office via a vote of no-confidence in April last year — his wife Bushra Bibi, ex-accountability czar Shahzad Akbar and others of “committed fraud, forgery for the purpose of cheating and presented a fake receipt of our business letterhead wherein false receipt showing sale purchases of gifts such as watches, cuff links are fraudulently obtained from Toshakhana with false signatures was prepared”.

The FIR was lodged by Naseemul Haq — an employee at a business which deals with the sale and purchase of expensive watches in Islamabad.

“As per the record, no such transaction regarding the sale and above-mentioned items has ever taken place with such nominated accused persons and neither the accused persons have sold us any such items,” read the FIR.

PTI chairman secures protective bail in Toshakhana fraud case

Earlier today, the PTI chairman moved the LHC seeking protective bail in the case. In its plea, the ex-premier pleaded with the court that he was “falsely implicated” in the FIR with “mala fide intention and ulterior motive”.

The FIR was aimed at harassing, blackmailing and politically victimising him, the ousted prime minister wrote in his petition.

During the course of the proceeding, Barrister Salman Safdar — Khan’s counsel — apprised LHC Judge Justice Amjad Rafique that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had already carried out an action against his client in the Toshakhana case.

He pleaded with the court to grant his client protective bail as the PTI chief has to appear before the Islamabad courts in 11 different cases on June 8. The lawyer revealed in the courtroom that yet another case related to the murder of a lawyer has been filed against his client, who is also already facing over 150 cases. The ousted premier was also present in the courtroom during the proceeding.

Subsequently, the court granted protective bail to the PTI chairman till June 21 and directed him to approach the relevant court in the case.

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Imran Khan’s bail request in the Toshakhana-II case has had its objections dismissed.

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In the Toshakhana-II case, the Islamabad High Court has dismissed the objections to PTI founder Imran Khan’s bail request.

IHC instructed the registrar’s office to schedule the hearing for the case for Monday.

Imran Khan’s attorneys, Shaheena Shahab, Ayesha Khalid, and others, arrived in court today as IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the case.

The registrar’s objections to the plea were questioned by Justice Aurangzeb. In the Toshakhana-II case, Imran Khan submitted a bail application, according to counsel Ayesha Khalid.

Justice Miangul said that previous rulings in circumstances comparable to this one adhered to the consistency principle. In this instance, the petitioner was a man, he added.

Bushra Bibi was given bail because she was a woman, according to the justice, and an application like this one was denied yesterday.

Given that the case action date was November and the power of attorney was executed in July, Justice Aurangzeb raised a concern about the timing.

Justice requested the help of Advocate Shah Khawar in this case.

When an applicant was held in jail, Shah Khawar retorted that it was standard procedure to obtain signatures on required documents, such as a power of attorney.

Imran Khan’s attorney, Shaheena Shahab, asked the court to send out notices regarding the bail plea. A judge named Aurangzeb said that the law would be observed.

Following arguments, the court dismissed the registrar office’s objections and ordered that the case hearing be scheduled for Monday.

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PTI presents seven nominations to Imran Khan for the judicial commission.

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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has proposed seven individuals to its founder, Imran Khan, for consideration as founding members of PTI for membership in the next Judicial Commission.

None of the nominated individuals are attorneys; rather, the roster includes four Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) and three senators.

The proposed MNAs are Umar Ayub, Asad Qaiser, Ali Mohammad Khan, and Aamir Dogar, while the senators are Shibli Faraz, Mohsen Aziz, and Aun Abbas Bapi. Sources suggest that the Judicial Commission will include one opposition member from both the National Assembly and the Senate.

The PTI founder will evaluate and endorse two names from the suggested list, which will then be sent to the Speaker for future actions.

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Miller confirmed that Biden’s administration got a letter from a congressman requesting the release of the PTI founder.

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Following his removal as prime minister in 2022, Khan started a protest movement against a coalition of his enemies led by current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Since then, he has been in jail since August 2023 and has been involved in hundreds of cases.

In response to ARY News’ question over the congressmen’s letter during a media briefing in Washington on Monday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, “We will respond in due course to the members.”

The United States wants to see Pakistan maintain its democracy, Miller stated.

The release of the PTI founder’s wife and sisters was a result of a meeting between the US Deputy Assistant Secretary and a Pakistani government representative in Islamabad, which was further questioned during the press briefing.

“I won’t be addressing that,” Miller said when asked if the United States was involved in their release. Miller did, however, affirm that the conference included the defense of Pakistan’s basic liberties and rights.

Sixty-two members of the US Congress urged President Joe Biden on October 24 to support the release of Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, and other political prisoners.

The congressmen, who included well-known Muslim members Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, said in their letter that the Biden administration should ask Pakistani authorities to guarantee the safety of PTI founder Imran Khan.

They also underlined that US policy should concentrate on Pakistan’s human rights situation and asked that US ambassadors attend the PTI leader’s incarceration.

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