Court rejects PTI chief’s plea to transfer Toshakhana case

• Local court rejected an appeal to transfer the Toshakhana criminal case.
• PTI Chairman expressed no confidence in session judge Humayun.
• PTI chief’s counsel said Facebook posts show bias and malice.

ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court on Tuesday turned down an appeal by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman to transfer the Toshakhana criminal case hearing to another court.

The chief expressed a lack of confidence in additional sessions judge Humayun Dilawar, who is hearing the Toshakhana criminal case against him, and sought to transfer the case to another court.

The PTI chief’s counsel Barrister Gohar said a Facebook account in the judge’s name published posts against the former prime minister which shows bias in the case. The additional sessions judge confirmed the presence of his Facebook account but denied publishing any such posts.

During the hearing, the judge asked if forensic analysis should be conducted of the social media posts. He asked if the lawyer saw the posts on his Facebook account.

Barrister Gohar replied that he saw them on his account before they were locked. He also presented pictures before the court, saying that disparaging remarks were made against the PTI chief on social media.

The judge asked to present the pictures to a relevant forum for verification and reserved the verdict. The local court eventually rejected the case transfer request of the PTI Chairman.

The district and session Courts issued the detailed verdict of the decision by the plea by PTI Chairman seeking to transfer the case. Additional Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar issued a four-page detailed judgment.

The PTI chairman filed a no-confidence motion against the judge. The verdict mentioned that Barrister Gohar Ali Khan openly showed Facebook posts in court in front of lawyers, police and others present.

Barrister Gohar Ali said the Facebook posts show malice and bias against PTI. He told the court that the PTI Chairman does not expect justice from this court. He appealed to the court to transfer the case.

On July 8, Islamabad Additional District and Sessions Court (West) Judge Humayun Dilawar announced starting criminal proceedings against Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case after rejecting the PTI chief’s plea against the maintainability of a complaint filed by the ECP.