By Mahbub Hasan Tutul, International Correspondent
Pakistan’s Election Commission (ECP) has disqualified Ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan from being a Member of Parliament for Illegally selling state gifts.
The commission said that Imran has committed corruption through this. He is disqualified from contesting for election as Member of Parliament and holding any public office.
The ECP passed the order unanimously on Friday. According to the ECP order, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran is no longer a member of the country’s National Assembly (Parliament).
A lawyer for Imran Khan said the clause under which the PTI Chairman was found guilty barred him from holding public office for five years.
In the Toshakhana Case, Notices were issued to all parties concerned to appear at the commission secretariat in Islamabad.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the case was kept pending for judgment on September 19.
A five-member bench of the commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja took up the hearing of the case.
In the hearing, Imran Khan’s lawyer claimed that the former prime minister bought gifts from Toshakhana as per the rules. The matter was also informed to the concerned authorities.
The commission members wanted to know about the source of money for buying gifts. In response, Imran Khan’s lawyer said that he will not give detailed information about this to the commission.
Ali Gohar Khan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s Mohsin Nawaz Ranjha and five others petitioned for the disqualification of Imran Khan.
On August 22, Speaker of the National Assembly, Raja Pervez Ashraf sent the application to declare Imran Khan disqualified in the Toshakhana scandal.
According to the 28-page petition, the then Prime Minister Imran Khan took 52 gifts from the Rashtriya Toshakhana.
He took these gifts at nominal value in violation of laws and regulations. He sold most of the gifts.
The gifts also include some expensive watches. The estimated value of these gifts is 14 crore 20 lakh rupees.
Imran Khan received these gifts from August 2018 to December 2021 during his tenure as Prime Minister.