Imran Khan,
former Pakistan Prime Minister and leader of Tehreek-e-Insaaf, has been disqualified
from holding public office for five years by the Election Commission of
Pakistan (ECP). The disqualification is over a case related to allegedly hiding proceeds from gifts Khan received from foreign leaders. 

The Shehbaz Sharif government had filed a case against Imran Khan in August. It called upon the Election Commission of Pakistan to disqualify the former prime minister for failing to reveal the proceeds from the sale of gifts he bought at a discounted price from the state repository, called Toshakhana. 

Due to the Election Commission’s ruling, Imran Khan will not be able to become a member of the Pakistan parliament for five years. 

The four-member team of the Election Commission that investigated him said that action will also be taken against the former PM under corrupt practices law. 

The decision to ban Khan from public office was taken by a team led by Pakistan Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja. The ECP announced that Imran Khan’s seat in the Pakistan National Assembly will now be deemed vacant. 

Pakistan law requires prime ministers to hand over any gifts they received from foreign dignitaries for preservation in the Toshakhana. It is alleged that Imran Khan, as Pakistan prime minister, received gifts amounting to Rs 154 million. 

A case was lodged against Imran Khan over reports that he retained 20% of the amount of the most expensive watch worth Rs 101 million, Republic World reported. He was also accused of amending the Toshakhana rules and setting retention price at 50%. 

Pakistani media outlets had reported earlier that Imran Khan had sold the watches he had received as gifts and deposited 20% of each in the government treasury. The gifts were not deposited in the Toshakhana. Imran Khan had earlier said at a press conference that it was “his choice whether to keep the gifts or not.”