By Asif Shahzad

ISLAMABAD A Pakistan high court on Friday temporarily halted former Prime Minister Imran Khan's trial on charges of illegally selling state gifts, his party and local media said.

The halt comes after the high court asked a lower court to look into whether a legal complaint filed by the country's election commission, as part of an inquiry against Khan, constituted a criminal proceeding, local Geo TV reported.

Khan's legal team had challenged the commission's complaint. Khan's spokesman Farrukh Habib hailed the higher court's decision.

The trial, which is in its final stage, relates to an inquiry conducted by the election commission which found Khan guilty of unlawfully selling state gifts during his tenure as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; editing by Jason Neely and Miral Fahmy)