ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court docket (SC) on Wednesday turned down a petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, searching for to restrain the trial courtroom’s proceedings within the Toshakhana case.
The PTI chief, who turned the primary prime minister of Pakistan to be voted out of workplace via a no-trust vote final 12 months in April, had approached the highest courtroom after being denied reduction from the Islamabad Excessive Court docket (IHC).
The Election Fee of Pakistan (ECP) had, on October 21 final 12 months, disqualified the previous prime minister within the Toshakhana reference beneath Article 63(1)(p) of the Structure for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”.
In Could this 12 months, a trial courtroom rejected his petition difficult the maintainability of the reference.
Not solely that, however the courtroom additionally indicted the PTI chief, who denied all of the allegations of misdeclaration of items.
This was when the PTI chief challenged the trial courtroom’s choice earlier than the IHC, which despatched the case again to the trial courtroom for re-examination inside a span of seven days.
Following the order, the trial courtroom upheld the maintainability of ECP’s petition in opposition to the PTI chief on July 8 and proceeded additional in opposition to the previous premier, who then approached the apex courtroom for reduction.
Throughout in the present day’s listening to, Justice Yahya Afridi of the two-member SC bench remarked that the apex courtroom wouldn’t intrude within the trial courtroom’s issues within the Toshakhana case.
PTI chief’s lawyer Khawaja Haris knowledgeable the courtroom that there are a number of petitions — associated to the jurisdiction of the trial courtroom and switch of the Toshakhana case — pending within the excessive courtroom.
At this, Justice Afridi directed the IHC to membership Khan’s pending petitions and determine on them first.
He mentioned that it was not the SC’s jurisdiction to listen to the petition when there are associated petitions sub-judice within the IHC.
“Court docket’s jurisdiction is a serious concern, it needs to be determined first,” the justice remarked.
It could be famous that there are 4 petitions pending within the IHC. One pertains to the most recent trial courtroom order whereas in two pleas the PTI chief has challenged the jurisdiction of the trial courtroom to listen to the Toshakhana case. In one other petition, he has sought a switch of the case.