ISLAMABAD: The panel of lawyers representing former prime minister Imran Khan rushed to the Supreme Court on Saturday to challenge the Aug 4 Islamabad High Court (IHC) direction to the trial court to re-examine the concerns raised about its jurisdiction and any other procedural lapse in the filing of Toshakhana reference before it.

But the entire exercise became futile as Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar, after waiting and repeatedly calling the counsel representing the petitioner, convicted Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan for committing corrupt practices.

Not only the trial court announced its anxiously awaited judgement, but the Registrar Office of the Supreme Court also turned down the petition by not entertaining the same which was moved by senior counsel Khawaja Haris Ahmed along with Barrister Gohar Khan.

The hurriedly moved petition was returned by highlighting technical deficiencies like the power of attorney was not properly executed, the case description was improper, the names and signatures of the petitioner or the advocate on record were missing etc.

SC raises objections over appeal against IHC order; conviction makes plea ‘infructuous’

Since the matter has become infructuous, there is no point in pursuing the same by instituting an appeal against the order of the institution branch of the Supreme Court, believed the legal observers.

In his appeal, the petitioner had argued that IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq while remanding the case to the trial judge has misconstrued the submission made on behalf of the petitioner’s counsel (Khawaja Haris) to remand the case to any trial judge other than ADSJ Humayun Dilawar.

Yet the high court remanded the case back to the trial court without affording the counsel to separately submit arguments on merits regarding the application for the transfer of the case.

Moreover, the high court also erred in law while remanding the case regarding the challenge to the jurisdiction of the ADSJ to proceed with the complaint on merits for the decision afresh because the decisions earlier rendered by the trial court were “cursory and shoddy” since it did not address the essential arguments of the petitioner’s counsel.

Moreover, the manner in which the high court passed the judgement was in breach of the fundamental rights of the petitioner since in the first round, the record showed the July 4, 2023, high court order was not passed with due application of the mind. Whereas in the second round, the high court categorically held that it was passed without providing adequate opportunity for hearing to the petitioner.

Such facts demonstrate that the present matter was a fit case to remand to any other judge other than ADSJ Dilawar who had allegedly twice passed the order on the same subject in an allegedly manifest breach of law, more so when bias was also attributed to him, the petition had contended.

On Aug 4, the IHC decided four petitions of Imran Khan against jurisdiction like the alleged defective filing of the complaint, the transfer of the case from the court of ADSJ Dilawar and the controversial Facebook posts of the trial court judge.

The petition before the high court had also challenged the jurisdiction of the trial court on the basis that the ECP reference was barred by limitation and also was defective as the person signing the complaint on behalf of the ECP was not duly authorised.

The petition had also insisted that the matter ought to have been taken into cognisance only after it had been routed through the magistrate as provided in Section 193 of the criminal procedure code. Besides, it questioned the issuance of summons by the trial court on the basis that it ought to have looked into the jurisdictional defects before summoning.

The petition had also sought transfer of the case based on alleged bias; primarily, on the ground that the charge was framed against the petitioner in haste and improper fashion and also the contentions of the petitioner in various applications have not been decided correctly.

Imran’s medical check-up

Meanwhile, there was uncertainty about the medical check-up of the former prime minister. Just after the arrival of Imran Khan in the federal capital, Polyclinic established a medical board. A similar board was also constituted by Pims, but the PTI chairman was taken to Attock jail instead of the hospital in Islamabad.

Pims Executive Director Dr Rana Imran Sikander, while talking to Dawn, said that no one had informed him about whether Mr Khan would be shifted to the hospital or his team would be sent for the medical.

“I am not aware that if Pims team will be nominated for the medical [examination],” he said.

Ikram Junaidi also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, Aug 6th, 2023