A district and sessions court in the federal capital on Tuesday disposed of a petition filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for early hearing of the Toshakhana case against PTI Chairman Imran Khan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal announced the verdict reserved earlier in the day after hearing arguments from ECP and Imran Khan\u2019s lawyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the outset of the hearing, the PTI chief\u2019s lawyer Khawaja Harris raised objections over the ECP plea, stating: \u201cWhy is it showing more interest in the Imran Khan\u2019s case?\u201d He said the PTI was facing plethora of cases and lawyers required time to get themselves prepared for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another PTI lawyer, Faisal Chaudhry, argued that the court had fixed April 29 for next hearing after the election commission expressed its consent. \u201cIt came to the ECP\u2019s mind after two days that case should be fixed for early hearing,\u201d he astonished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At one point, Mr Harris cited the proceedings of a case filed by the ECP against PPP leader Ali Haider Gilnai, saying the private complaint was lodged against him last year but he was yet to be indicted. He said a court had also postponed the Mr Gilani\u2019s case for one and half months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While rejecting the impression that the case was being dragged, he said the suspect also had some rights. The PTI lawyer also accused the ECP of discrimination in the case against his client. \u201cAttempts to fix the case for early hearing are tantamount to intervention,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Harris said the court could make a comparison of interest level being shoed by the top electoral body in cases against Imran Khan and Ali Haider Gilani. He said the ECP should be free from political influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In counter arguments, the ECP lawyer said the district election commissioner was authorized to lodge complaints, adding: \u201cBribery and concealing assets in returns are two different cases\u201d. He also rejected the allegation of adopting discriminatory approach in Mr Khan\u2019s case. He also cited a ruling of the Supreme Court stating that cases related to corrupt practices must be decided in three months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the PTI chief had been calling the election commission \u201cliar\u201d for three months. \u201cIf you are right, come to the court,\u201d he said, adding that Mr Khan had not filed any acquittal plea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After hearing the arguments, the judge reserved the verdict and later rejected the ECP\u2019s plea.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A district and sessions court in the federal capital on Tuesday disposed of a petition filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for early hearing of the Toshakhana case against PTI Chairman Imran Khan. Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal announced the verdict reserved earlier in the day after hearing arguments from ECP and Imran […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-latest-news","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n