IHC to hear appeal against conviction of PTI chief on August 22

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Wednesday scheduled a hearing of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman's appeal against his conviction in the Toshakhana case for August 22, APP reported.

The case will be heard by an IHC panel made up of Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri.

In the previous hearing, the court had requested the trial court's case file and had given notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding the appeal for a sentence suspension.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Hamayun Dilawar had sentenced the PTI chief to a three-year jail term along with a Rs100,000 fine in the criminal case.

Last week, a division bench of the Islamabad High Court denied requests to suspend the PTI chief Imran Khan’s prison term. The two-member bench consisted of Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri.

Imran’s attorneys requested a suspension of the jail term in their appeal. The court, however, refused to immediately end the sentence and gave notice to all parties that a hearing would be held later.

Earlier, former prime minister Imran Khan filed a plea in the IHC challenging his conviction in the Toshakhana case by a trial court.

In his petition, the PTI chief contended that he was aggrieved of and dissatisfied with the order Additional Sessions Judge, Islamabad (West) Humayun Dilawar passed on August 5, whereby, he was convicted under Article 174 of the Election Act, 2017 to three years in jail and Rs100,000 fine or in default of six months in jail. He added that the said impugned order was not sustainable and liable to be set aside.

The PTI chief is currently incarcerated in Attock Jail after his arrest on Saturday. The arrest came after an Islamabad district and sessions court disqualified him from politics for five years and sentenced him to three years in prison in the Toshakhana criminal case.

In a related development, the IHC allowed on Wednesday PTI leaders Shehryar Afridi and Shandana Gulzar to go home, suspending the MPO orders issued against both.

However, the court barred them from going outside the capital’s limits, while also asking them to refrain from issuing statements on mainstream and social media till the case was going on.