- Justice Nasir Javed Rana will announce a reserved judgment.
- Court staff also inform the NAB prosecution team of developments.
- Al-Qadir Trust case verdict reserved for December 18, 2024.
RAWALPINDI: After several postponements, the suspense verdict in the ₹190 million case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi is expected to be announced on Monday (today) – unless it is postponed again – a PTI lawyer confirmed this on Sunday.
Accountability court judge Nasir Javed Rana would announce the reserved judgment in the high-profile case in a makeshift court at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi at 11 am.
PTI founder Khalid Yousuf Chaudhry’s lawyer confirmed the development, citing court staff, while the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecution team was also said to have been informed.
The verdict was previously scheduled to be announced on the 6th of this month; however, it was extended because the judge was on leave.
This was the second time that the verdict in the Al-Qadir Trust case, reserved on December 18, was postponed after being scheduled for December 23, 2024.
The former prime minister, along with his wife Bushra and others, was accused by the NAB of causing a loss of ₹190 million to the exchequer via a deal between the PTI government and a corporate tycoon. ‘real estate.
The case is among the plethora of legal challenges facing the incarcerated PTI founder who has been behind bars for over a year after being convicted in the Toshakhana-I case.
“Justice will prevail”
Ahead of the verdict, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif expressed hope that “justice will prevail” as an accountability court was expected to announce its judgment tomorrow.
Asif, addressing a press conference in Sialkot earlier in the day, said that although charges had been leveled against the former leaders, what happened under the PTI government was “unprecedented”.
He asked national media to investigate whether Al-Qadir Trust was a university or not. “We hope that a verdict will be announced tomorrow and that justice will be done,” he added.
“Predetermined verdict”
Reacting to Asif’s press conference, PTI leader Asad Qaiser said statements by government officials suggested they were already aware of the “predetermined verdict” in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
“The whole world knows that Al-Qadir Trust is a social institution,” Qaiser said in a statement today.
Defending the jailed PTI founder, he said it was a non-profit organization from which the former prime minister did not derive any personal benefit.
He said, “Neither a transparent trial was conducted in this case nor was any solid evidence presented against the PTI founder. » The former president of the National Assembly called it a “political witch hunt”.
“One cannot hope for justice when leaders politicize the Supreme Court to obtain the desired verdicts,” he added.
Case Overview
The anti-corruption watchdog had filed an appeal against Khan, Bushra and others in December 2023 over the alleged settlement.
According to charges in the case, Khan and other defendants allegedly adjusted the 50 billion rupees – £190 million at the time – sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government as part of the deal with a real estate tycoon.
Subsequently, the then Prime Minister obtained approval from his cabinet for the settlement with the UK’s crime agency on December 3, 2019, without disclosing details of the confidential agreement.
It was decided that the money would be submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon.
According to NAB officials, the PTI founder and his wife got land worth billions of rupees from the real estate tycoon to build an educational institution, in return for entering into a deal to to give legal cover to the real estate tycoon’s black money received from the British crime agency. .
Later, the Al-Qadir Trust was established in Islamabad weeks after the PTI-led government approved the deal with the real estate tycoon.
One year trial
The accountability watchdog arrested the PTI founder on November 13 last year in connection with the said case. The NAB then interrogated Khan and Bushra for 17 days in Adiala jail.
The trial began after the referral was filed with the NAB on December 1, 2023. On February 27, 2024, charges were officially filed against the couple.
Notable witnesses against the PTI founder included his former cabinet member Pervez Khattak, former federal minister Zubaida Jalal, former principal secretary Azam Khan and chief financial officer of Al-Qadir University.
The court also declared six co-accused, including Zulfi Bukhari, Farhat Shahzadi, Mirza Shahzad Akbar and Zia-ul-Mustafa Nasim, absconders, ordering freezing of their assets and bank accounts.
During the proceedings, the Islamabad High Court granted bail to the disqualified Prime Minister under a reference of ₹190 million, while the trial court approved the advance bail to Bushra’s arrest.
The PTI founding president submitted a list of 16 witnesses to the court, but the request for summons was rejected.
During the course of the case, four judges were replaced by Justice Muhammad Bashir, Justice Nasir Javed Rana, Justice Muhammad Ali Warraich and then again Justice Rana who was presiding over the hearings.