Pakistan court rejects Imran Khan's appeal against disqualification

Islamabad, Oct 24: A Pakistan court on Monday rejected former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's plea to instantly suspend his disqualification in the Toshakhana case.

The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician had challenged the top election body's decision to disqualify him from holding public office for five years in the Toshakhana case for hiding proceeds from the sale of gifts he received from foreign leaders.

Imran Khan lost membership of the parliament, as well as, was barred from contesting elections for five years after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday found him guilty of hiding the proceeds from the sale of precious gifts.

In his plea, Imran Khan argued that the ECP had no power to make decisions on corrupt practices or disqualify people, requesting the court to suspend the body's ruling until the final decision on the appeal.

"The filing of the appeal put Khan on a path to go through a gruelling legal battle to regain his political turf in the wake of his disqualification," said a PTI report.

However, there is confusion about whether the five-year disqualification would apply only to the five years 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 would be completed in 2023.

Khan already tendered his resignation as a lawmaker in April but it was not accepted. In this case, his disqualification would end with the expiry of the tenure of the assembly.