Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to three years imprisonment and disqualified from politics for five years by a trial court on Saturday in the Toshakhana corruption case.
Additional Judge Humayun Dilawar of the Islamabad-based district and sessions judge also imposed Rs100,000 fine on Khan, adding that he would be kept in jail for another six months if failed to pay the fine.
Khan, 70, was convicted in the Toshakhana case which was filed last year on the complaint of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) which had earlier disqualified him in the same case.
Khan is accused of misusing his 2018 to 2022 premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than Rs 140 million (USD 635,000).
The Toshakhana issue over the sale of state gifts received by the former cricketer-turned-politician became a major issue in national politics after the ECP disqualified Khan on October 21, 2022, for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”.
The Toshakhana is a department under the Cabinet Division that stores gifts given to rulers and government officials by heads of other governments and foreign dignitaries. Khan bought some of the gifts, including a precious watch, and sold the same for profit.
The verdict came a day after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) set aside a session court’s verdict to uphold the maintainability of the Toshakhana case for criminal proceedings against Khan.
Khan is currently facing more than 140 cases across the country and faces charges like terrorism, violence, blasphemy, corruption and murder.
Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.
(With exceprts from PTI)
