Imran Khan questions Pakistan's judicial system in Toshakhana reference

After levelling charges against the Pakistan army over his removal from power, former Prime Minister Imran Khan dragged Geo Group and Pakistan's judicial system into the Toshakhana reference.

Opening a new front against the Pak's judiciary after the disclosure of the Toshakhana wristwatch sale to a businessman, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan threatened Geo Group and expressed no confidence in Pakistan's judicial system, reported The News International.

In his address to the long march participants through video-link on Saturday, he said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was behind the wristwatch 'story', which was created by Geo News against him.

"The story raised the question that what I did with the watch. I will file a defamation suit in the country also, but I feel regret to say that I have no hope of getting justice here," Imran Khan told his party members.

"That's why I am going to the US; I will file a suit there. I am going to the UK, and I will file a defamation suit there also. I will file a suit against Geo, Shakil-ur-Rahman and his group. I will also file a lawsuit against them in Dubai," said Khan.

Then Imran Khan asked the audience why he was filing cases there, and he replied that he was confident that he would get justice in those countries, reported The News International.

Imran Khan said they (Geo News) had defamed his repute. "I have fought legal cases there. In the UK, I had fought a big case against Ian Botham.

"That case continued for three weeks. It made headlines (in newspapers). It was a damages case, and I know well how a case is fought there," claimed the PTI chief.

He expressed his belief that Geo News would be imposed fine there. Pakistanis would also see it for themselves as to what had happened, and "our courts should also witness it", he added.

Notably, Khan bought a wristwatch from Toshakhana and made part of the official record of the money he had received as a result of its sale. Geo News only performed its professional responsibility of bringing before the public the buyer, Umar Farooq Zahoor.

That buyer not only showed the wristwatch and other articles he had purchased but also provided documentary evidence to prove that it was the same wristwatch which was given by Saudi Arabia's crown prince to the then prime minister Imran Khan as a gift, reported The News International.

Umar Farooq claimed the watch was sold by Farah Gogi, a friend of the wife of Imran Khan. Shahzeb Khanzada, the host of the programme, time and again invited the PTI leadership to come forward and present their stance on the programme.

Imran purchased the watch from Toshakhana and then sold it. After the price evaluation, he deposited 20 per cent of the price in Toshakhana. However, Shahbaz Gill claimed Imran deposited 50 per cent amount of the watch price, reported The News International.

Toshakhana gifts Rs 280 million in 2019 through Farah Khan, a close friend of Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi, and her whitening of the almost same amount of money the next month has put a question on Imran Khan, reported The News International.

According to Sheikh Umar Farooq Zahoor, Farah Khan sold the Toshakhana gifts to him in Dubai in April 2019 for about Rs 280 million. And the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) official record showed that only after one month, when a tax amnesty scheme was announced by the government in May 2019, she got the benefit of Rs 330.

Shahzeb Khanzada disclosed more facts in his Geo News show on Wednesday including the tax returns, filed by Farah Khan and her husband Ahsan Gujjar for the financial year 2018-19, showing that she got the benefit of the 2019 amnesty scheme.

Ahsan Gujjar claimed that his wife benefited from the amnesty scheme during Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's tenure, and not during Imran Khan's government, reported The News.

However, earlier, in the Geo News programme aired on April 28, 2022, Ahsan Jamil had admitted while talking to Shahzeb Khanzada that they got the benefit of the amnesty scheme in 2019 during Imran Khan's government.