Tuesday, a petition filed by imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan challenging his conviction and sentence in the Toshakhana corruption case will be heard by a two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court.
On August 5, Sessions Court judge Humayun Dilawar in Islamabad convicted the 70-year-old chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party guilty of corrupt behaviour and sentenced him to three years in prison. The Election Commission of Pakistan, which had already disqualified Khan for failing to disclose assets, brought the Toshakhana case in October 2022. On the day of his conviction, Khan was detained in Lahore and brought to Attock, where he was taken to the city’s district jail.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) approved the former premier’s petition to review his conviction and set August 22 as the hearing date. On Tuesday, the petition will be heard by a division bench made up of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq.
The defence attorneys are anticipated to fight for prompt redress in the form of a conviction suspension until the outcome of the petition. Khan will be let out of jail as a result of the conviction being overturned.
In the other situation, the court might decline to commute the sentence and proceed with the decision, which could take many weeks or months. In any case, Khan’s problems could not be resolved anytime soon because, according to his party, more than 200 cases have been filed against him since his ouster from power in April 2022, and he could be convicted in some of those cases.
