Pakistan: Islamabad HC Declares Toshakhana Case Against Imran Khan Inadmissible

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday declared the Toshakhana case against the former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan inadmissible, ARY News reported.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq announced the verdict reserved earlier on a petition filed by the former premier against the decision of a trial court that had declared the criminal case, filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), admissible.

The court has also approved Khan's bail application which will come up for a hearing later today. The Toshakhana issue over the sale of state gifts received by the cricketer-turned-politician became a major issue in national politics after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified the former premier for making "false statements and incorrect declaration".

The Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.

The cricketer-turned-politician allegedly purchased from the Toshakhan an expensive Graff wristwatch from the Saudi royals which he received during a visit in 2018 as well as several other gifts and sold them in Dubai for profit.

According to the ECP records, the gifts were purchased from the Toshakhana - the state depository established in 1974 - for Rs 21.5 million on the basis of their assessed value, while they were valued at around Rs 108 million.

Khan, however, while in government, had been reluctant to disclose details of the gifts presented to him since he assumed office in 2018, maintaining that doing so would jeopardise international ties, even as the Pakistan Infor­mation Commission (PIC) ordered it to do so.