Verdict issued on PTI's plea against declaring Tosha Khana case admissible

Islamabad: Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday issued a hearing order on the petition against the decision to declare the Tosha Khana case admissible.

On the appeal of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, the ruling was issued for the hearing on July 27. Chief Justice Islamabad High Court Aamer Farooq issued the written ruling.

In its order, the court said that the registrar's office should combine all the applications and schedule them for hearing. The lawyer called the judge biased and requested to transfer the case.

Facebook posts attributed to the trial court judge were shown to the court, it was told that the trial court judge refused to admit the Facebook posts. The Registrar's office referred the matter of the Facebook posts to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) cybercrime wing.

In the court order, it was said that FIA should investigate and submit its report before the hearing on the next date. The Election Commission should also assist on this matter in upcoming hearing.

According to the counsel, jurisdiction should be decided before proceeding, it is settled law that without jurisdiction, the case cannot proceed further.

The court stated in the order that this is the second round of judicial proceedings related to the jurisdiction of the case. The appeal against declaring the case admissible was first approved.

High Court allowed the appeal and ordered the trial court to reconsider the decision on the petition. The trial court had again rejected the petition of Chairman PTI.