ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan, the former prime minister, revealed on Tuesday that the gifts from Toshakhana were sold through his military secretary, Brigadier Waseem Cheema. In his statement during the Toshakhana case, he emphasized the significance of Brigadier Waseem Cheema in the entire episode and requested the court to call him and record his statement, as he pleaded his innocence in the case.
Imran Khan’s statement under Section 342 in the Toshakhana case was recorded before Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Humayun Dilawar. In the presence of his lawyers, Imran Khan answered 35 questions posed by the questions and stated that he did not submit any incorrect record of his assets to the Election Commission.
The PTI Chairman said that the Election Commission did not nominate anyone to file a complaint nor was the complaint filed within 120 days. He said he had submitted his assets to the Election Commission in 2018-2017, 19-2018, 20-2019, and 21-2020. The Speaker of the National Assembly sent a reference based on malice to the Election Commission. The law was misunderstood by the wrong procedure. It is not written in the law that gifts should be named. There is no column for writing the name of gifts in Form B. The witnesses did not even submit a challan of the value of gifts to the court. Imran Khan said that he was not contacted while preparing documents for gifts, nor were documents attested, no testimony was taken nor did any witness appear.
Imran Khan alleged that the Toshakhana case was politically motivated and stated that the prosecution witnesses were acting as puppets of the government. The defense lawyers requested time to present the list of witnesses, but the Election Commission of Pakistan lawyers opposed the plea. However, the court ordered the defense to provide the list of private witnesses the next day.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Pakistan is set to hear Imran Khan’s petition challenging the verdict of the Islamabad High Court, which denied a stay order on the Toshakhana reference trial against him. The three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Yahya Afridi, will consider the plea seeking leave to appeal under Article 185(3) of the Constitution against the order dated 27-07-2023 passed by the chief justice of Islamabad High Court.
