Pak: Imran Khan appeals in Supreme Court against Islamabad High Court's order on Toshakhana case
Imran Khan, who was "disqualified" to hold any public office for five years, has appealed to the apex court to remove the ban on him which is the only way for him to contest in the upcoming general elections.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan (ANI)
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the Islamabad High Court's (IHC) order on the Toshakhana case, as reported by Geo News.
Imran Khan, who was "disqualified" to hold any public office for five years, has appealed to the apex court to remove the ban on him which is the only way for him to contest in the upcoming general elections.
Recently, the IHC had dismissed Khan's plea seeking suspension of the trial court's verdict in the Toshakhana case.
In his plea filed in the IHC -- the same court that had suspended his sentence -- Khan had sought to nullify the conviction, Geo News reported.
However, in the fresh petition, Khan appealed the IHC's verdict to be stayed, stating that his sentence in the Toshakhana case had already been suspended.
He stated that he is being denied his fundamental right to contest elections due to the suspension of only his sentence instead of the entire order of conviction by the trial court, which bars him from running for office.
"That taking advantage of the error in the order of the Islamabad High Court ... wherein although the sentence of the petitioner was suspended but the order was not, the Election Commission of Pakistan issued a notification ... and disqualified the applicant under article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, without even giving him an opportunity of being heard thereby blocking the fundamental rights, as enshrined under article 2, 2A, 4,9, 10A 15, 16, 17 & 25 of the Constitution, of the petitioner, to contest elections who at the time was heading the largest political in the country," the petition stated.
Earlier on December 21, the IHC's two-member bench turned Khan's request for the suspension of his conviction, which would have paved the way for his eligibility to stand in elections, adding that today is the last day to submit nomination papers, reported Geo News.
IHC's two-member bench -- comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri -- said in its order that the PTI founder's petition was not maintainable, therefore, it was dismissed.
The PTI founder, a 70-year-old former international cricket star, has been at the centre of a political crisis since he was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022.
The cricketer-turned-politician was sent to jail for three years on August 5 after being found guilty of selling state gifts during his 2018-22 tenure as prime minister -- the charges he denies, Geo News reported.
Khan is seeking to overturn that conviction, which has barred him from contesting elections for five years, filed a plea in the Islamabad High Court, but it was rejected, after which the party moved to the Supreme Court.