Non-bailable arrest warrant issued against Imran Khan in Toshakhana case

The cricketer-turned-politician is accused of receiving a luxury car from the government treasury and selling for profit a host of gifts he had received as Prime Minister from foreign dignitaries.

A Pakistan court on Tuesday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan over charges of unlawfully selling gifts received from heads of other nations and foreign dignitaries. District and Sessions judge Zaffar Iqbal issued the warrant in the Toshakhana case and adjourned the case till March 7.

The judge remarked that the chargesheet was to be filed today and the accused did not appear before the court despite repeated summons, hence the ruling.

What is Toshakhana case

The Toshakhana case refers to a case in Pakistan in which former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, former President Asif Ali Zardari and others were accused of illegally obtaining luxury vehicles and other gifts at the expense of the government treasury when they were in power.

Khan was also accused of receiving a luxury car from the government treasury during the tenure of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. However, he has denied the allegations and claimed that he had returned the car to the treasury.

In August 2022, a reference was filed against Khan by the Pakistan government for 'not sharing details' of the Toshakhana gifts in annual assets submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which initiated an inquiry and announced its final verdict on 21 October 2022.

70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was disqualified by the ECP under Article 63(1)(p) of the Constitution over "false statements and incorrect declaration" for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch, a pair of cufflinks, an expensive pen, a ring and four costly Rolex watches that he had received as Prime Minister at a discounted price and selling them for profit.

ECP action does him in

In January, Khan moved a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking an order to stop the ECP from a process to remove him from the party chairperson office over the Toshakhana case. The cricketer-turned-politician, in his petition, asserted that the law does not place any bar on a convict from becoming an office-bearer of a political party. He also accused that the ECP has exceeded its powers by trying to remove him as PTI chairperson.

Khan was ousted as Prime Minister in April last year after the National Assembly passed a no-confidence motion against him. The PTI chief, who came to power in 2018, is the only Pakistani Prime Minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament.