Pakistan court rejects former PM Imran Khan's plea against EC's disqualification decision
By Team Newsable | First Published Oct 24, 2022, 2:45 PM ISTImran Khan stormed to power in 2018 and received expensive gifts from rich Arab rulers during official visits, which were deposited in the state repository Toshakhana. He later bought the same at a discounted price as per the relevant laws and sold the same at hefty profits.
The Islamabad High Court on Monday rejected former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's plea to instantly suspend his disqualification in the gifts case, reports said.
The former Pakistan PM had challenged the Election Commission's decision to disqualify him from holding public office for five years for hiding proceeds from the sale of gifts he received from foreign leaders. Khan has also lost membership of the Parliament.
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In his appeal, Imran Khan stated that the top election body had no power to make decisions on corrupt practices or disqualify people and has asked the high court to suspend the body's ruling until a final decision is reached on the appeal.
However, there is confusion about whether the five-year disqualification would apply only to the five-year term of the current assembly, or whether the disqualification period would start from the date of the verdict by the ECP.
The tenure of the current national assembly began in August 2018 and will be completed in 2023. In April, Khan tendered his resignation as a lawmaker but it was not accepted. In this case, his disqualification would end with the expiry of the tenure of the assembly.
Imran Khan stormed to power in 2018 and received expensive gifts from rich Arab rulers during official visits, which were deposited in the state repository Toshakhana. He later bought the same at a discounted price as per the relevant laws and sold the same at hefty profits.
According to Khan's statement to ECP, the gifts that he had procured from the state treasury after paying Rs 21.56 million fetched about Rs 58 million. The gifts included a Graff wristwatch, a pair of cufflinks, an expensive pen, a ring and four Rolex watches.
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In August, the ruling coalition government lawmakers filed a case against Imran Khan, seeking his disqualification for failing to reveal the proceeds from the sale of gifts. The top election body then found Imran Khan guilty and disqualified him for a period of five years.
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