World News | ECP to Hold Contempt Case Proceedings Against Former Pak PM Imran Khan on Dec 13 in Jail

Islamabad, Dec 6 (PTI) Pakistan's election commission on Wednesday decided that contempt case proceedings against former prime minister Imran Khan and his party colleague Fawad Chaudhry will take place on December 13 at the high-security Adiala jail.

Khan, the 71-year-old founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party, and Chaudhry are both currently incarcerated in multiple cases at the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.

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Khan has been in jail since August 5 when he was arrested after a conviction in the Toshakhana corruption case. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had also disqualified him in the same case for failing to disclose the proceeds from the sale of gifts he got from the state repository.

The decision to hold the trial inside the jail from December 13 comes a day after the ECP reserved its verdict on a petition that was filed to remove Khan as the head of his PTI party due to his conviction in the Toshakhana corruption case.

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On Wednesday, the Dawn newspaper said, “The ECP issued its verdict in light of the Interior Ministry's denial to produce the former premier before the Commission during the last hearing, citing security concerns.”

Subsequently, on November 30, the ECP reserved a verdict and suggested the possibility of holding Khan's trial in the Adiala jail.

Last year, the ECP had initiated contempt proceedings against the PTI chief, former party leader Asad Umar, and Chaudhry, the former information minister, for allegedly using “intemperate” language against the chief election commissioner and the electoral watchdog, the Dawn said.

However, instead of appearing before the ECP, the three had challenged the ECP notices and contempt proceedings in various high courts arguing that Section 10 of the Elections Act 2017, which is the statutory provision regarding the Commission's power to punish for contempt, was against the Constitution.

The PTI leaders had also sought from the high courts a declaratory relief from the charges.

But in January, the Supreme Court allowed the ECP to continue proceedings against the former cricketer-turned-politician Khan, Chaudhry, and Umar, and on June 21, the ECP decided to frame charges against the trio, which has yet to be done.

Chaudhry was arrested from Islamabad on November 4 in an unrelated case and has been in custody ever since.

In the latest development, the ECP declared that it will conduct indictment proceedings against the former premier and the ex-information minister in jail and asked the Ministry of Interior to make necessary arrangements in this regard.

It also directed the ministry to complete all necessary legal requirements for the proceedings within two days.

In the last hearing, ECP member from Sindh Nasir Durrani had told Khan's counsel Shoaib Shaheen that the Interior Ministry had submitted a report that said that the former PTI chairman could not be presented and proposed that the Commission send a team to jail to indict him.

Khan's lawyer had also expressed concern, stating that the jail trial of a leader of a top political party would send a wrong message.

Umar had also made an appearance before the ECP in the same case in the last hearing. The electoral watchdog had questioned him about his repeated failure to appear before the Commission.

“I have appeared before the ECP the most,” Umar had responded, adding that he had also quit politics. In response, one of the ECP members stated, “You can continue politics.”

Umar had also submitted his written response to the ECP, the Dawn reported.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)