Pakistan HC suspends 14-year jail term of former PM Imran Khan, his wife in Toshakhana case

By Team Asianet Newsable | First Published Apr 1, 2024, 3:25 PM IST

In a massive relief for Imran Khan, the Islamabad High Court on Monday suspended the 14-year jail term of former Pakistan prime minister and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in the Toshakhana corruption case.

The Islamabad High Court on Monday suspended the 14-year jail term of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in the Toshakhana corruption case. The high court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said the appeal against the punishment would be fixed for hearing after the Eid holidays.

Imran Khan and his wife were sentenced to 14 years in jail in the Toshakhana case by an anti-graft court in Islamabad in January earlier this year. The case contends that Khan "deliberately concealed" information regarding the gifts he retained from the Toshaskhana, a repository where presents given to government officials by foreign dignitaries are stored, throughout his tenure as prime minister, as well as the proceeds from their documented sales.

Tap to resize

Latest Videos

In August 2023, Khan was sentenced to three years in prison for selling presents valued at more than 140 million rupees ($501,000) from state possession, which he had received during his premiership from 2018 to 2022.

The government's publicized list of Toshakhana gifts, unveiled in March of the preceding year, showcased a conspicuous preference for wristwatches among Pakistan's public officials.

According to the report, Khan retained seven wristwatches worth Rs 96.6 million during his tenure as prime minister, ranking second among all three parties in terms of the assessed value of watches retained.

The records indicate that watches were among the most commonly gifted items, with a total of 1,262 watches (including pocket and table watches) appearing in the Toshakhana records since 2002, as reported by the Dawn newspaper in March.

For more reliable and latest news