Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, has lost his position as the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) following his conviction in the Toshakhana case.
The verdict was handed down by a district and sessions court in Islamabad, finding Khan guilty of violating laws by selling state gifts.
The charges held Khan responsible for misusing his office as the Prime Minister, leading to the illicit sale of state gifts worth more than Rs140 million ($490,000) received during his foreign visits. This fallout has significantly affected Khan’s political standing, with the legal implication that he cannot continue as the party chairman. This outcome aligns with the Supreme Court’s ruling on a previous constitutional petition PTI submitted.
The Implication of Conviction on Khan’s Political Role
The conviction has automatically invalidated Khan’s position as PTI’s chairman, as per the Supreme Court’s decision in PLD 366/2018, revealed Zulfiqar Ahmad Bhutta, a Supreme Court lawyer. He further recalled that he had filed a petition following the conviction of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Papers case. The petition demanded that a guilty verdict from a constitutional court should also disqualify the convicted individual from leading a political party.
As Bhutta elaborated, despite a conviction, a political leader can still exert significant control over their party’s affairs, including issuing election tickets, which would bear the convicted leader’s signature. The proposal aimed to eliminate such scenarios by disqualifying convicted leaders from their party’s headship.
Bhutta also shared that following his petition, 15 parties, including PTI with Imran Khan and Sheikh Rasheed, PPP, and JI, submitted constitutional petitions with similar requests. A landmark decision by a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar ensued, asserting that a convicted individual cannot lead any political party.
In response to the recent development, a PTI spokesperson has confirmed that the party will now be under the leadership of vice chairman and ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
