ISLAMABAD    -  The Election Com­mission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday re­served its verdict in the Toshakhana reference against Pakistan Teh­reek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan.

A four-member ECP bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, heard the refer­ence seeking disqualifi­cation of PTI Chairman Imran Khan from hold­ against Pakistan Teh­reek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Im­ran Khan. A four-member ECP bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, heard the reference seek­ing disqualification of PTI Chairman Imran Khan from holding any public office for concealing the Toshakhana gifts he received from for­eign dignitaries during his tenure as prime minister of Pakistan. Barrister Ali Zaf­ar and Barrister Gohar rep­resented Imran Khan, while Khalid Ishaq represented Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha. Khalid Ishaq argued that Imran Khan did not share the details of gifts he pur­chased from Toshakhana. PTI chairman, in his reply submitted to the ECP, had admitted that he had re­ceived gifts and sold these in the same financial year he had received them. He said that the former prime minister had also admitted that he had not mentioned these gifts in his returns submitted to the Feder­al Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Election Commis­sion of Pakistan (ECP) be­cause he thought that dis­closing sold assets was not mandatory. Khalid Ish­aq said that the case in the commission was against Imran Khan and not any other member of the as­sembly, adding that every Member of Assembly was bound to submit details of assets to the Election Com­mission and failure to sub­mit returns within 120 days may result in action under corrupt practices. Barrister Ali Zafar, counsel for the former prime min­ister, said that the National Assembly (NA) speaker did not have the power to send the reference. “In fact this case has become political as leaders of rival political parties were holding press conferences to prove they were on the right side,” Barrister Zafar said. The ECP was not authorised to judge the integrity of mem­bers of the parliament (MP). The disqualification under Article 62-1-F is the prerogative of the courts not the Election Commis­sion of Pakistan. “Has any court proved that Khan is not Sadiq and Ameen,” Barrister Ali Zafar asked. The Toshakhana case was brought before the elector­al watchdog last year after the Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) accepted an application on the mat­ter and directed the Cabi­net Division to provide in­formation about the gifts received by the then-prime minister Imran Khan from foreign dignitaries.