By Advocate Ch. Awais Younas

At the start of the Toshakhana-II case trial, Imran Khan’s acquittal petition was filed around January 15 of this year, and as of September 24, it remains at zero progress no notices have even been issued yet. Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas is hearing the case.

Here’s what happened: Initially, the case was placed before Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb with objections. He instructed that the objections be removed. Then, on January 20, Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas was appointed as an Additional Judge. After the objections were removed, the case should have gone back to Justice Mian Gul, but the then Chief Justice Aamer Farooq instead listed the case before the newly appointed Additional Judge on January 23 even though high-profile cases are not usually assigned to Additional Judges.

Then, something happened that no one could have imagined. On January 23, another objection was raised that Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb had already heard Imran Khan’s bail case, so this case should also be sent to him. However, Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas dismissed the objection, saying, “I will hear it myself.”

Later, on January 28, when the case was listed again, another objection was raised that Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas’s brother was serving as a prosecutor against Imran Khan in the May 9 cases, so he should not hear this case. The court then ordered further assistance on the matter.

Since that day January 23 to September 24  the case hasn’t moved forward even a single step. Two applications for early hearing were filed, and only after that was the case scheduled for October 7.

Meanwhile, the trial of the Toshakhana-II case itself is expected to be completed and decided within the next five to seven days, meaning that by then, the acquittal petition will automatically become ineffective.

7 October Toshakhana-II Proceedings

Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s lawyer, Salman Safdar, requested the trial court to be restrained from delivering the final verdict in the Toshakhana-II case.

“I am issuing a notice,” said Justice Inam Amin Minhas.

“If the trial court is not stopped from delivering the final verdict, then my arguments here are of no use,” said Barrister Salman Safdar.

“We’ll see,” remarked Justice Raja Inam Amin Minhas — historic remarks — and the hearing was concluded with no next date given.

The unfortunate aspect is that no one knows what the Toshakhana-II case actually is what are the allegations, what evidence does the prosecution have, and what is the defense of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi? None of this has ever been reported from Adiala Jail. If this trial had been held in any open court, the public would have known what the case was about.

Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi have filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court seeking to halt the trial of the Toshakhana-II case.