Imran Khan, wife Bushra challenge Toshakhana case convictions in high court

Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi on Monday filed separate appeals in a high court, challenging their 17-year prison sentences in the Toshakhana-2 case.

A special court on December 20 sentenced them to 17 years imprisonment each in the corruption case based on allegations that they sold expensive state gifts by buying cheaply from Toshakhana -- the state gift repository.

The two filed appeals in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), contending that the conviction was politically motivated and pleaded for the undoing of the same.


They also contended that the methodology adopted by the Federal Investigation Agency, the prosecuting body, was devoid of "heightened care and caution".

"Instead, both the investigating agency and the Trial Court proceeded in a cursory manner. This is evident from the absence of any FIR (first information report) on the record," read their appeal.

They further noted that the conviction was yet another instance of selective prosecution in the Toshakhana cases, with authorities pursuing charges related to one set of gifts while deferring or abandoning prosecution on the others.

"The bifurcation of what ought to have been a single, composite trial into multiple proceedings was undertaken with the ulterior motive of ensuring the continued incarceration of the present appellant," according to the appeals.

They requested that the trial court's judgment be set aside and the convicts be acquitted.

The Toshakhana 2 case involves alleged fraud in state gifts that the former first couple received from the Saudi government in 2021.

Both Khan and Bibi are already lodged in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, serving their sentences in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

Khan, 73, has been incarcerated since August 2023, when he was arrested for the first time. Multiple cases have been registered against Khan after his government was toppled in April 2022.

He served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022.