The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday declared the Toshakhana body of evidence held up against former prime minister Imran Khan "inadmissible".
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq announced the verdict before on a request documented by the former premier against the decision of a trial court that had proclaimed the criminal case, recorded by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), permissible.
Earlier, the chief justice had reserved the verdict on June 23, saying that he would investigate the matter after Eid ul Adha, as indicated by ARY News.
On May 10, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman was indicted in the Toshakhana case by Additional Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar, who dismissed protests about the admissibility of the case.
Toshakhana case
The case relates to the charges that the former PM "intentionally hid" subtleties of the gifts he held from the Toshaskhana — a storehouse where presents gave to government authorities from unfamiliar authorities are kept — during his tenure as the prime minister, and continues from their revealed deals.
The PTI chief then moved toward the IHC, which had remained criminal procedures looking into the issue till June 8.
A day earlier, the PTI chief submitted a petition to the court, looking for Justice Aamer Farooq's recusal from the case.
According to Dawn, Imran Khan requested the recusal of Justice Farooq from the bench on the grounds of "fair hearing, unbiased tribunal, access to justice, and impartial proceedings" in a petition filed by Barrister Gohar Khan on Monday. In the petition, Khan stated that the arguments in the cases had not yet been completed.
During a discussion with media staff outside the IHC, the Khan's legal counselor, Gohar Khan, named the decision a "victory".
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