Pakistan: Toshakhana petition against several former PMs dismissed

On Friday, a Pakistani court denied a lawsuit alleging that all former premiers, including Nawaz Sharif and former parliamentarians, as well as Imran Khan, had received Toshakhana presents from state heads. Petitioner Tanveer Sarwar had asked Justice Raheel Kamran of the Lahore High Court (LHC) to order the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to “allow criminal complaints against all former premiers and lawmakers,” who are running in the polls on February 8, 2024. However, Sarwar had failed to provide the ECP with any information about the gifts they received from Toshakhana, which they had declared as assets in their nomination papers. According to Mr. Sarwar, Imran Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, received a three-year prison sentence in the Toshakhana case for “non-disclosure of the specifics of state gifts in his assets”. As for former president Asif Zardari, he said, “they are contesting upcoming polls,” but former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif, Yousaf Raza Gillani, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and others did not reveal the specifics of their Toshkhana gifts. “The ECP is prejudiced only against Imran Khan but is not taking any action against the above-mentioned persons,” the petitioner said and requested the court to stop the ECP from “selective prosecution.” After hearing the arguments of the petitioner, the judge dismissed the petition as being not maintainable. Nawaz Sharif has had his nomination papers accepted for the national assembly seats in Lahore and Mansahra, despite the fact that the top court in 2017 decided to either permanently ban him or disqualify him for ten years in instances involving corruption. There are many rumours that Mr. Sharif will be appointed prime minister for a fourth time with the support of the military establishment, which is charged with engaging in widespread election tampering to prevent Imran Khan’s PTI from winning back control. Pakistan has been dominated by the formidable army for the majority of its more than 75-year history. (With agency inputs)