Imran Khan handed three-year prison sentence
Former Pakistan captain was found guilty in Toshakhana case
In a major development, a district and sessions court on Saturday convicted former Pakistan captain Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case, sentencing him to three years in prison.
The former all-rounder was accused of misusing his 2018 to 2022 premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than Rs140 million ($635,000).
"Chairman PTI's charge of disclosing false assets has been proven," the Additional and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar mentioned in his judgement.
Judge Dilawar sentenced the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief to three-year imprisonment, issuing arrest warrants against him and a fine of Rs100,000.
The judge also rejected Khan's petition for admissibility of the case.
Soon after the verdict, Pakistan police arrested Khan at his residence in the eastern city of Lahore, his lawyer Intazar Hussain Panjutha told Reuters by phone.
The former prime minister had challenged the Toshakhana case, related to the alleged misdeclaration of gifts he took from the state gifts repository, on several forums including the Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court (IHC).
The trial court had summoned Khan in his personal capacity today (Saturday) for a hearing in the Toshakhana case after the high court rejected his pleas challenging the maintainability order.
On Friday, the IHC also turned down Khan's request to transfer the case to another court and directed Additional Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar to continue hearing the case.
Imran Khan played 88 Tests and 175 ODIs for Pakistan over the course of his illustrious career.
His averages, 37 with the bat and 22 with the ball, kept him at the top of the quartet of star all-rounders, Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee and Kapil Dev being the others, who impressed one and all in Test cricket in the 1980s.
During Imran's last 10 years of international cricket, he featured in 51 Tests, averaging a remarkable 50 with the bat and 19 with the ball.
Imran also led Pakistan to their first series victory in England in 1987 but the best moment of his career came when the Men in Gren clinched the 1992 World Cup trophy under his inspirational leadership.
