On Wednesday, an accountability court postponed rendering a decision in the corruption case against former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, over the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust.
Accountability Judge Nasir Javed Rana reserved his ruling, which will be made public on Monday, December 23, after the defense concluded its arguments today and the prosecution finished its closing arguments in the case a day ago.
Imran and seven other people, including his wife, were the subject of a corruption reference filed by the National Accomplishment Bureau (NAB) in December in relation to Al-Qadir University.
in order to legalize Rs 50 billion that the UK had discovered and repatriated to the nation during the previous PTI government.
Imran, who is presently incarcerated, was accused in the NAB reference of having a “pivotal role in the illicit transfer of funds meant for the state of Pakistan into an account designated for the payment of land by Bahria Town, Karachi.” Additionally, it asserted that the accused purposefully and maliciously refused to furnish information under various pretexts, even after being offered numerous chances to do so and provide justification and information.
Suspects in this reference also include property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain and his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, Mirza Shehzad Akbar, and Zulfi Bukhari; however, they fled and were later declared proclaimed offenders (PO) rather than participating in the inquiry and ensuing legal processes.
Ziaul Mustafa Nasim, a legal specialist for the PTI government’s Assets Recovery Unit, and Farhat Shahzadi, a close friend of Imran’s spouse, were both designated POs. All six of the accused’s properties were subsequently frozen.
In February, the pair was charged in the case.
The hearing
Social work has also been targeted because political retaliation has grown so heedless. He insisted that not a single coin ended up in the accused’s pockets.
Additionally, the defense attorney contended that the NAB had shifted its stance in the reference, now stating that it was a conflict of interest.
He maintained that no one personally benefited from the case, that there was no settlement agreement, that there was no National Crimes Agency witness, and that no land had been transferred in Bushra Bibi’s name.
The citation
According to the reference, “the accused […] were given numerous opportunities to provide information and justify themselves, but they purposefully, maliciously, refused to provide the information on one or the other pretext.”
Additionally, it is clear from their answers that they have nothing to defend against the aforementioned accusations. Accordingly, they have all violated the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).
According to the NAO, it further stated that the investigation’s progress and conclusions thus far “established that accused persons in connivance with each other have committed the offenckbar, oncee of corruption and corrupt practices.”
According to the reference, Riaz ultimately benefited from the illegal transfer of monies intended for the state, in which Imran played a “pivotal role.”
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