Imran Khan arrested, sentenced to three years in prison

Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan has been arrested and sentenced to three years in jail and a 1,00,000 PKR penalty. The trial court in Islamabad declared him guilty of corrupt practices in the Toshakhana case.

The judge said that Imran provided an incorrect declaration of assets and liabilities during his regime as Pakistan's Prime Minister that was submitted to the ECP for 2020-21. The 70-year-old PTI chairman has been convicted under Section 174 (Offence of corrupt practices) of the Election Act.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Humayun Dilawar told Dawn.com:

“He has been found guilty of corrupt practices by hiding the benefits he accrued from the national exchequer wilfully and intentionally. He cheated while providing information of gifts he obtained from Toshakhana, which later proved to be false and inaccurate.”

“His dishonesty has been established beyond doubt,” the court order added.

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“Justice was murdered” – Imran Khan’s lawyer

Lawyer Barrister Gohar Khan expressed disappointment at Imran Khan’s arrest by calling it “a murder of justice.”

He said:

“I was very disappointed and disheartened. Justice was murdered. We weren’t even given a chance. We weren’t even allowed to cross [question], to say anything in defence or conduct our arguments. I haven’t seen this kind of injustice before.”

Following the verdict, Imran is disqualified from holding any public office for five years. The law states:

“A person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of the Parliament if he has been, on conviction for any offense involving moral turpitude, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release.”

The former PM, however, has the right to appeal the verdict.

The arrest comes nearly three months after being arrested from the high court’s premises in the Al-Qadir Trust case on May 9. He was released after two days by the Supreme Court, which declared the arrest illegal.

On the cricketing front, Imran Khan represented Pakistan in 88 Tests and 175 ODIs for Pakistan. He also led his side to their only ODI World Cup title in 1992. Overall, the all-rounder scalped a total of 544 wickets and scored 7,516 runs.