Toshakhana reference hearing from 18th

ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja will begin hearing of the Toshakhana reference against PTI Chairman Imran Khan from Aug 18.

Last Thursday, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf had sent the reference to ECP after taking the PDM leadership, including former president Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif, into confidence.

It is expected that the ECP full court would announce verdict on the reference in the light of Article 63 of the Constitution with few weeks.

When contacted, former secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad said that the ECP was bound to announce its decision in the reference within a month. He said the ECP had received the reference on Aug 4 and it was binding on it to decide the case by Sept 3, 2022.

He said the ECP would examine annual returns filed by Imran Khan to see if they included the Tosha Khana assets. In case, he said, these assets were not included in the annual statements, it would fall into the category of corrupt practices. In that case, he said the ECP full court was authorised to act on its own under the law against Imran Khan.

According to Mohsin Nawaz Ranjha, Imran Khan had not mentioned in the returns filed with the ECP in 2018-19 watches gifted by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman worth over Rs100 million.