LHC to take up plea against ECP move to disqualify Imran Khan next week

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) will take up a petition challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) move to disqualify PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case next week.

A three-member bench, headed by LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti and comprising Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh and Justice Sajid Mahmood Sethi, will take up the case on Jan 9. The petition was filed by a citizen, Jabir Ali, through his lawyer Azhar Siddique, against the verdict of the electoral body in the Toshakhana reference. In October last, the election body had disqualified the PTI chief for not disclosing the gifts he obtained from the Toshakhana. In its detailed verdict, the ECP stated that Imran Khan had deliberately submitted the wrong returns to the ECP, adding that the former premier did not disclose the gifts received in the returns. “The bank record of gifts presented by Imran Khan does not correspond to the value of the gifts,” it added. It further stated that the money received from the sale of gifts was not disclosed in 2018-19, and that Imran Khan concealed the facts in the returns of the financial year 2020–21 and violated sections 137, 167, and 173 of the Election Act.