ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s lawyer has said he would move the Supreme Court today, Friday, to challenge a decision by the Islamabad High Court that effectively keeps him disqualified from contesting general elections scheduled for next year. 

Khan has been in prison since August 5 when he was sentenced to three years in jail after getting convicted on charges of unlawfully selling state gifts during his 2018-22 tenure as prime minister. 

Pakistan’s election regulator subsequently banned Khan from contesting polls or holding public office for five years. On August 29, the IHC suspended Khan's three-year sentence following which the cricketer-turned-politician approached the high court, seeking to have his conviction overturned as well. 

A two-member bench led by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq dismissed Khan’s plea against the trial court verdict on Thursday, a day before the deadline to submit nomination papers for elections for provincial and national assemblies scheduled for Feb. 8. 

“We will foil the conspiracy to keep Imran Khan disqualified,” Khan’s lawyer Naeem Haider Panjutha wrote on social media platform X. “We will challenge [Chief] Justice Aamer Farooq’s verdict tomorrow [Friday] in the Supreme Court.” 

The IHC's judgment said Khan's plea was not maintainable, adding that the Supreme Court has clarified that the suspension of a sentence does not mean the suspension of a decision.

Since being ousted from the prime minister’s office in April 2022, Khan has been tangled in a slew of legal cases he says are designed to stop him from contesting elections. 

He was briefly detained in May, sparking nationwide protests that turned violent, with anger directed at the military for allegedly interfering in politics. 

A nationwide crackdown targeting Khan’s party saw thousands of supporters rounded up, forcing almost the entire central leadership to go underground. Many have since abandoned the party. 

Although Khan’s prison term for graft was overturned, he was kept in custody over a fresh arrest for leaking state documents. If found guilty, Khan can be sentenced to 14 years in prison or even given the death penalty.  

Pakistan’s Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has rejected Khan’s allegations and vowed his government would ensure free, fair and transparent elections for all political parties.  

However, questions surround the legitimacy of the upcoming polls as Khan, arguably the most popular politician in the country currently, is unable to contest.