Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, August 5: Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, was detained on Saturday after receiving a three-year prison term in the Toshakhana case. Imran Khan was also prohibited from engaging in active politics for five years by an Islamabad trial court.
Khan is accused of making money off the sale of pricey state gifts while he was in power. He didn’t attend the session in court.
Following the court’s decision, Imran Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was apprehended at his Lahore home by Islamabad police working with the Punjab police. From Lahore, he has been dispatched to Islamabad.
PTI General Secretary Omar Ayub Khan said, “Imran Khan has been arrested. Peaceful protest is every Pakistani’s constitutional right.”
The party’s Punjab unit in a tweet said, “Imran Khan is being moved to Kot Lakhpat Jail.”
The 70-year-old politician, who was previously a professional cricketer, is accused of making money off the sale of pricey official gifts while in office. Imran Khan’s appeal against the trial’s progress was rejected by Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Friday, the court noting that an application to transfer the case to another court was being considered by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Imran Khan has denied any wrongdoing, and his legal team has stated that an appeal will be made immediately.
“Police have arrested Imran Khan from his residence,” Khan’s lawyer Intezar Panjotha told Reporters. “We are filing a petition against the decision in the high court.
An Islamabad trial court today found Imran Khan guilty of “corrupt practices” in the Toshakhana case, according to the Pakistani newspaper The Dawn.
Khan was also given a punishment of Rs 100,000 fine by Additional Judge Humayun Dilawar of the District and Sessions Court in Islamabad, who also warned that if the payment wasn’t paid, he’d spend an additional six months in jail.
The court determined during the hearing today that the charges against the former prime minister were legitimate. He said, “Imran Khan submitted fake details to the Election Commission of Pakistan and is found guilty of corrupt practices”.
“Imran Khan deliberately submitted fake details [of Toshakhana gifts to the ECP and is found guilty of corrupt practices,” the judge said.
The decision was made a day after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) overturned a session court’s decision to preserve the maintainability of the Toshakhana case for Khan’s criminal prosecution.