LAHORE (INP): Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday ordered the government to present the Toshakhana record from 1947 to 2001 before the court. As per details, a two-member bench of LHC headed by Justice Shahid Bilal Hasan heard the government’s plea against the decision of making the Toshakhana record public.
The deputy attorney general told the court that there is no record of Toshakhana from 1947 to 2001. How is it possible that there is no record with the government, the court remarked. The deputy attorney general said he was also surprised when he knew that the state has no record of Toshakhana from 1947 to 2001. The judge expressed annoyance saying that the government passes the bill overnight but the bills which are for the state’s benefit are not passed.
He ordered to present of the Toshakhana record before the court as it is a matter for the young generation’s future sake. If the record is not submitted then the court will summon all the officers from 1947 till today even if they are retired. Earlier, the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the government to make a complete record of Toshakhana gifts received by public office holders from 1990 to 2001 public. Established in 1974, the Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.
LHC bench recommended to hear Imran’s plea challenging cases
LAHORE (INP): The Lahore High Court has recommended to form a larger bench to hear petition filed by former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan challenging similar cases registered against him across the country. A two-judge LHC bench headed by Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh on Monday heard the petition. Imran appeared before the court.
While recommending to form a larger bench to hear Imran’s petition, the court sent the file to the Chief Justice of Lahore High Court. Justice Sheikh remarked that he had already sent a similar petition to the larger bench and he is sending this petition, too, to the larger bench. He said that the petitioner requested the court to fix the hearing of the case today.
Imran’s lawyer contended that police is complainant in all cases registered against the PTI chief, adding that police is being used for political point scoring. He said as per the law, reasons must be explained before arresting someone but every day a new case has been registered against his client. The lawyer said that 140 cases have been registered against Imran and it is feared that he could be arrested. He said that police should tell the court whether his client’s arrest is necessary. He said that Imran has to go to Islamabad tomorrow to get interim bails in 9 cases ‘it’s not possible to face so many cases’. The Punjab government lawyer, however, objected to the application submitted by Imran Khan. He said that the petitioner wanted that neither should he be arrested nor investigated. He argued that police investigation powers could not be obstructed.
