Trouble mounts for Imran Khan: Non-bailable arrest warrant issued in Toshakhana case

In a setback to former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, a court Tuesday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him in the Toshakhana case. Additional sessions judge Zafar Iqbal issued the warrant against Khan and adjourned the hearing till March 7 for his repeated failure to appear before the court.

In November last year, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) found Khan guilty of committing "the offence of corrupt practices" and disqualified him from the membership.

Toshakhana stores precious gifts given to the heads of state, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries. The PTI chief, who was dethroned from the top post last year, bought gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from Toshakhana, and sold them for profit.

The ECP in its verdict said Khan had made "false statements and incorrect declarations, therefore he has also committed the offence of corrupt practices".

The commission sent a reference to a trial court to begin criminal proceedings against the former prime minister. On November 22, the trial court took up the case and a fixed date for indictment. However, he did not appear in court twice.

In a separate case, the ECP last year found Khan's party guilty of concealing that it had received the money from prohibited sources. The prohibited funding case was filed by estranged PTI founding member Akbar S Babar in the ECP in 2014.

The former Prime minister has not attended any hearings since November last year when he was injured in an assassination attempt at his rally in the Wazirabad area of Punjab.

Imran Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia and China.

(With inputs from agencies)