Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: In Pakistan’s cycle of vendetta politics, everybody knew it was coming. Even former Prime Minister Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi was aware of it —for, he had done exactly the same unto his predecessor, Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, pushing him into jail and then forcing him into self-exile in London, from where he may return soon to keep the wheel moving.
On Saturday, Imran Khan was arrested after an Islamabad trial court sentenced him to three years in jail in the Toshakhana corruption case and barred him from participating in active politics for five years, the media reported.
In a surprise move, Islamabad’s District and Sessions Court Judge Humayun Dilawar pronounced the verdict that Imran and many others were awaiting.
The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician had, since being ousted from power in April 2022, been ‘predicting’ that his successors would arrest and debar him from contesting elections.
His successor, PM Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz’s younger brother, is set to resign on August 9 as the tenure of the existing National Assembly will expire on August 12. Fresh elections are likely in the next few months, for which Nawaz is expected to return to Pakistan to lead his political party as the current dispensation has cleared his way for rehabilitation.
The gifts Imran received as the PM included expensive wristwatches gifted by a royal family, according to government officials, who alleged previously that Khan’s aides sold them in Dubai.
On his part, Imran Khan denied any wrongdoing and his legal team said they would be filing an immediate appeal.
“It’s important to mention there was no chance given to present witnesses, neither was the time allotted to round up arguments,” a member of the Imran team said.
Imran Khan’s tenure as PM (2018-22) was cut short when his opponents won a no-confidence vote against him last year, which Khan alleged was passed with the help of the country’s powerful army which has denied any role in the matter.
His targeting of the military has raised political temperatures, and his brief arrest in May on corruption charges sparked violent protests in the country, which bombed his own political party into smithereens.
Only on Friday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court dismissed Imran Khan’s plea against the Toshakhana case in which he was accused of misusing his office to buy and sell gifts in state possession. He received these gifts, worth over USD 6,35,000 (PKR 140 million) during his visits abroad when he was in office.
The apex court rejected his plea against trial proceedings in this corruption case wherein he was accused of concealing details of the gifts he retained from the state repository.
While dismissing the plea, the apex court observed that his application seeking the transfer of the case to another court was underway in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), and expressed the hope that the trial and the IHC will make decisions as per the law.
On Wednesday, the apex court turned down Khan’s request to stay the trial in the Toshakhana case at an Islamabad sessions court. However, it granted relief to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief by postponing further proceedings until Friday so that he could approach the court again in case any adverse order was passed by the IHC.