High Court rejects King Khan’s bid to withdraw guilty plea

The High Court in Suva has rejected an application by drug accused Imran Khan, also known as King Khan, to withdraw his guilty plea over a charge of breaching a restraining order.

Khan appeared before Justice Thushara Rajasinghe today, who ruled there was no basis to allow him to change his plea, finding that he had entered it voluntarily and fully understood the charge and its consequences.

Khan had earlier pleaded guilty last month to one count of contravening a restraining order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1997.

He later applied, through his lawyer Shayal Kant, to have the guilty plea set aside, arguing that he did not fully understand the nature of the offence and the legal consequences of pleading guilty.

The charge relates to the disposal of a vehicle that was subject to a court order freezing several assets pending legal proceedings. The restrained assets included a property valued at about $400,000, cash held in a local bank account and four vehicles.

However, Justice Rajasinghe found that the court had followed the proper procedures before accepting the plea.

The judge said Khan was given sufficient time to consider the charge and the prosecution’s summary of facts, while noting that the charge and facts were explained to him in English, his preferred language.

The prosecution claimed that Khan understood the consequences of pleading guilty.

Justice Rajasinghe also rejected Khan’s claim that advice from his previous lawyer led him to misunderstand the seriousness of the offence, saying there was no evidence that any injustice had occurred.

The judge ruled that Khan had failed to establish any legal grounds to withdraw his guilty plea and dismissed the application.