Imran Khan gets relief in Toshakhana case.

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was granted relief in the Toshakhana case by an Islamabad local court as he skipped the proceedings once again on Thursday.

The former prime minister is facing charges of corrupt practices related to the state gift depository - the allegation he denies.

In October last year, Khan was barred from holding public office after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) found him guilty of unlawfully selling gifts from foreign dignitaries and heads of state.

The trial court had issued an arrest warrant for the PTI chief earlier this month due to his continuous absence, despite summons for indictment in the case.

The order of arrest, however, was canceled by the trial court a few days later, over PTI's insistence that Khan's life was in danger and he needed security. The court had adjourned the hearing till today (March 30) and ordered Khan to ensure his presence.

Additional sessions judge Zafar Iqbal of a district and sessions court in Islamabad was presiding over the hearing.

At the outset of the hearing, Khan's lawyers filed a request for exemption from today's hearing, maintaining that there was still a strike at the Islamabad Bar which had been going on for the last three days.

At this, the Election Commission of Pakistan's lawyer, Amjad Pervez, said that Imran Khan is not part of the lawyers' strike.

"At the trial stage, the presence of the suspect in the courtroom is required. Imran Khan should come even if his lawyers want to go on strike," he argued.

Khan's lawyer Khawaja Harris responded that the PTI chief's life...