A Rawalpindi accountability court on Monday postponed announcing its verdict for the third time in the £190 million case involving former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi.
Judge Nasir Javed Rana said the verdict was postponed due to the absence of the accused and their legal representatives, Express News reported.
He said that although he arrived at the court at 8:30 a.m. and issued two summons to Imran Khan, Khan and Bushra Bibi did not appear.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecution team, as well as media and court staff, were present in the courtroom, but no members of the defense were present.
Due to the absence of the defendants and their lawyers, the judge decided to delay the verdict. The verdict will now be announced on January 17.
It should be noted that the audit court had already postponed the verdict in this case twice. The last hearing took place on December 18, 2024 at Adiala Prison.
Initially, the verdict was set for December 23, 2024, but the court delayed it and rescheduled for January 6. The new decision date is now set for January 13. The benchmark’s £190 million trial was completed within a year. . This is the only case involving Imran Khan that took a year to conclude.
On November 13, 2023, NAB (National Accountability Bureau) arrested Imran Khan. The court formally indicted Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi on February 27, 2024. During the trial, statements of a total of 35 witnesses were recorded in the reference.
Notably, former principal secretary Azam Khan, former chief minister Pervez Khattak and former federal minister Zubaida Jalal have also made statements in the matter.
Throughout the trial, the case was judged by four different judges. Initially, Justice Mohammad Bashir presided over the hearings, followed by Justice Nasir Javed Rana. The case was then heard by Justice Mohammad Ali Waraich, before being referred to Justice Nasir Javed Rana for final proceedings.
The accountability court gave the defendants 15 opportunities to complete their statements under Section 342. However, no witnesses were presented by the defense.
A six-member team of NAB prosecutors, led by Deputy Attorney General Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi, handled the case. Other members included special public prosecutors Amjad Pervaiz, Sohail Arif, Irfan Bola, lawyer Owais Arshad and Chaudhry Nawaz.
The defense team included, among others, lawyer Salman Safdar, Chaudhry Zaheer Abbas, Usman Gul and Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry.
What’s the case for £190 million?
The case alleges that Imran Khan and others were involved in an adjustment of 50 billion rupees, the equivalent of £190 million at the time, which was transferred by the National Crime Agency (NCA ) from the United Kingdom to the Pakistani government.
As Prime Minister, Khan obtained cabinet approval for this settlement on December 3, 2019, without disclosing confidential details of the agreement. The agreement provided that the funds would be submitted to the Supreme Court.
According to NAB officials, Khan and his wife were given land worth billions of rupees for the construction of an educational institution.