PTI chief Imran Khan Niazi on Tuesday recorded his statement under section-342 before the trial court in Toshakhana criminal case after which further hearing was adjourned till August 2 (today).
District and Sessions Judge Hamayun Dilawar heard the criminal case wherein former prime minister Imran Khan appeared before the court amid foolproof security. At the outset of the hearing, Imran Khan recorded his statement before the judge against 35 questions provided by the trial court. The judge inquired whether the accused was satisfied with his answers, and to this Imran Khan answered affirmation. As the hearing began, the judge asked the former prime minister if he was going to read the questions and he (Imran Khan) could answer if he wanted. In his statement, the former prime minister said that he had not heard the statements of the complainant as these were not recorded in his presence. He said that even the charges against him were not read in his presence. The PTI chief said that he had not appointed anyone as his representative in this case, adding that the sessions court had named it by itself and recorded the statement. He, however, said that he had not submitted any application to appoint a representative.
Imran Khan said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had sought the record from a local bank after announcing the decision. The ECP had never asked for the details of the bank from him, he said, adding that the person who prepared the record about the said bank was not produced before the court. He said that the witness first stated that the record was collected from the computer but later he expressed anonymous about it. The former prime minister said that he had never stated that he had submitted Rs58 million to the bank, adding that it was not essential to give the names of gifts as per the law. He said that there was no column in the ECP’s form regarding the names of Toshakhana gifts.
