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Journalism of Courage
Days after an Islamabad sessions court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for his persistent absences in the Toshakhana case, the police on Sunday (March 5) reached his residence in Lahore to arrest him.
Although the police said Imran was “unavailable” for being arrested, the 70-year-old politician addressed his supporters and party workers. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief said he had never “bowed before any man or institution, and will never let you do so as well”.
According to Dawn, the Islamabad police, in a series of tweets, mentioned that the superintendent of police had “gone into Imran’s room but he was not present there”.
It also said the operation was being conducted in cooperation with the Lahore police and they wouldn’t leave without arresting Imran.
“With a lot of respect, we have requested Imran Khan to come with us so that the court’s orders can be obeyed and Imran can be presented in court.,” Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Akbar Nasir told DawnNewsTV.
On February 28, the former Prime Minister was supposed to be indicted in the Toshakhana case but his lawyers requested to exempt him from appearing as he had to go to several other courts. The judge, however, rejected the plea and issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Imran. The 70-year-old politician’s indictment was deferred twice before, Dawn reported.
What is the Toshakhana case?
The Toshakhana controversy came to the forefront when in August 2022, the coalition government — led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) — filed a case against Imran, claiming that he didn’t disclose information on gifts presented to Toshakhana and the proceeds from the “illegal” sale of some the gifts.
Established in 1974, Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division which stores gifts and other expensive items received by public officials. According to its rules, it’s compulsory for officials to report the gifts and other such materials received by them to the Cabinet Division.
However, when Imran came to power in 2018, he resisted disclosing details of the many presents he received during his time in office, saying that doing so would severely impact relations with other countries.
Subsequently, the former prime minister wrote a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and admitted to selling at least four such presents but also said that he bought them from the government by paying a percentage of their value. These included a Graff watch gifted to him by the Saudi Arabian crown prince, Rolex watches, expensive cufflinks, a valuable pen and a ring.
What did the ECP say about the case?
Almost two months after the case was filed against Imran, the ECP found that while the sales weren’t illegal because the items belonged to Imran as he had paid for them, he did engage in unethical behaviour, making false assertions and erroneous declarations. The apex poll body barred Imran from holding public office for a period of five years.
In its ruling, it said, “We are of the considered opinion that the respondent has become disqualified under Article 63(1)(p) of the (Pakistan) Constitution read with Sections 137,167 and 173 of the Elections Act, 2017, consequently he ceases to be a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan and his seat has become vacant accordingly”.
What happened after Imran was disqualified?
Soon after the announcement of the ECP’s decision, huge protests led by PTI workers broke out in front of the poll body’s offices across the country. Multiple instances of vandalism were reported during these demonstrations and protesters clashed with the police.
A case of terrorism was then registered against Imran, alleging that the PTI leadership had encouraged the protests after the ECP disqualified the prime minister in the Toshakhana case.
