The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday suspended Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former premier Imran Khan's sentence awarded to him in the Toshakhana case.
The IHC announced the verdict that it reserved a day earlier wherein it directed the authorities to release the PTI chairman on bail.
The court declared that the specifics of the sentence suspension would be included in the comprehensive decision that would be issued later.
Sources claim that the PTI leader has been instructed to provide a Rs. 100,000 surety bond in lieu of bail.
The decision is a significant success for Khan in his legal battle against his conviction and sentence imposed in the Toshakhana case.
Khan was found guilty of corrupt practices related to the state gift repository earlier this month, and a district and sessions court in the federal capital sentenced him to three years in prison and assessed a fine of Rs100,000 as punishment. This decision disqualified Khan from running in the upcoming elections.
Immediately following the trial court's decision on August 5, the former prime minister—who has been barred from holding any public office as a result of the conviction—was detained and has since been held at Attock Jail.
Following his conviction in the Toshakhana case brought by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Khan filed a plea with the high court contesting Additional District and Session Judge Humayun Dilawar's ruling.
The hearing on the plea was finished, and the judgement was reserved on Monday by a division bench made up of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq.
Before the hearings came to a close, Amjad Pervaiz, the lawyer for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), submitted his arguments in opposition to the PTI leader's plea.
Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, the PTI lawyer, defended the plea by focusing on three issues: the suspension of his client's brief sentence, a jurisdictional flaw, and inappropriate authorization.
However, during the hearing on Monday, the attorney for the electoral body referred to the challenges to the maintainability of the ECP's complaint as being without merit.
He claimed that the witnesses presented by the defence were not relevant as these were tax consultants, whereas the complainant accused the ex-PM of submitting a false declaration of assets.
He also objected to the request for suspension of Khan’s sentence, saying this is not a matter of right but the discretion of the court, which could be exercised judiciously.
More to follow.....