ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) turned down Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s petition on Wednesday, which sought to halt the trial court’s proceedings in the Toshakhana case.
Prior to the court hearing, a commotion arose outside the courtroom in the presence of Chairman PTI. Responding promptly, the head of the bench, Justice Yahya Afridi, sternly directed to maintain the decorum befitting a judicial setting, cautioning that any further disturbances from outside would lead to the closure of the case without further hearing, emphasizing the significance of upholding judicial respect.
The disruption in the court proceedings compelled the bench to briefly adjourn, but once order was restored, the judges reconvened to proceed with the case.
During the Supreme Court hearing, Imran Khan’s lawyer, Khawaja Haris, contended that there were two pending applications in the High Court. The first pertained to the request for a hearing, while the second involved an application for the transfer of the Toshakhana case, citing alleged bias on the part of the trial court judges based on their Facebook posts.
Justice Yahya Afridi responded that the Supreme Court would not intervene in matters concerning the trial court and advised that the pending applications be presented before the Islamabad High Court, highlighting the jurisdiction as the primary issue to be decided beforehand.
Furthermore, Justice Yahya Afridi pointed out that the Islamabad High Court had previously referred the matter to the trial court. In response, Khawaja Haris stated that they had raised objections against the judge and had requested the case to be reassigned to another judge.
Justice Yahya Afridi clarified that their course of action would be to make the request to the High Court, while Justice Musrat Hilali mentioned that the Tosha Khana trial had already reached its final stages.
Consequently, Justice Yahya Afridi expressed the view that interference in the matter at the present time should be avoided.
In its final ruling, the Supreme Court ordered the Islamabad High Court to duly hear and adjudicate both petitions.
(Islamabad51-Newsdesk)
