An accountability court on Wednesday reserved its decision on the acquittal plea of Bushra Bibi, the wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, in the £190 million settlement case.
The former prime minister and his wife face allegations of causing a significant financial loss to the national treasury in a case that also involves a prominent property tycoon.
Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana will announce the verdict on Bushra Bibi’s plea tomorrow (Thursday), following the conclusion of arguments from both sides. Due to security concerns, the hearing was held in a temporary courtroom set up in Adiala Jail, where the couple is currently incarcerated. However, the cross-examination of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) investigation officer was not conducted due to the absence of Imran Khan’s lawyer.
Bushra Bibi’s lawyer, Usman Riaz Gul, presented arguments in favor of her acquittal, while the NAB opposed the plea. The judge also declared a request to initiate contempt proceedings against the NAB chairman as “ineffective” after considering the arguments presented by both the prosecution and the defense.
Earlier, the couple had secured post-arrest bail in the same case in July, but remained in custody due to another case known as the iddat case or the un-Islamic nikah case. They were acquitted in the iddat case on July 13 but were then re-arrested in a new Toshakhana reference filed by the NAB.
Bushra Bibi was first arrested in January and placed under house arrest in Bani Gala after she and Imran Khan were convicted in the Toshakhana case, which involved the illegal sale of state gifts. Although their sentences were suspended by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in April, Bushra Bibi was later transferred to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail in May after the IHC approved her petition challenging the house arrest. In July, the couple was acquitted in the iddat case, but Bushra Bibi remains detained due to other ongoing cases, including the £190 million NCA scandal and a fresh Toshakhana reference involving a jewelry set gifted by the Saudi crown prince.
Background of the £190 Million Settlement Case:
The case centers around allegations that Khan and others improperly adjusted Rs50 billion (£190 million at the time) sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government as part of a settlement with the property tycoon. On December 3, 2019, then-Prime Minister Khan allegedly obtained approval for the settlement from his cabinet without disclosing the details of the confidential agreement. It was decided that the funds would be submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon. NAB officials allege that Khan and his wife received land worth billions of rupees from the property tycoon, intended for the construction of an educational institute, in exchange for legalizing the tycoon’s black money obtained from the UK crime agency.
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