Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were found guilty in a £190 million case on Friday. Imran Khan was sentenced to 14 years in prison, while Bushra Bibi was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Accountability court judge Nasir Javed Rana announced the order in a courtroom at Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, where Imran had been detained for more than a year.
In addition to the jail terms, the court imposed fines of 1 million rupees on Imran and 500,000 rupees on Bushra. If the fines are not paid, Imran Khan will serve an additional six months in prison and Bushra Bibi will be sentenced to an additional three months.
The verdict was announced under tight security outside the prison. Following the verdict, Bushra Bibi was immediately arrested in the courtroom.
Justice Rana had reserved his verdict in the case on December 18 while adjourning the matter to December 23. However, on December 23, the court postponed the announcement of the order without giving reasons.
On January 6, the next hearing date, the verdict was again not revealed as the judge was participating in a training session organized for all district and sessions judges.
Before the final hearing of the case, court staff informed Imran and Bushra’s lawyers that the judge was going to announce the verdict on January 13, but on that day, the court again postponed the announcement of its verdict. verdict after the failure of Imran Khan and his wife. appear in court.
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.
The NAB filed the reference on December 1, 2023 against eight accused, including Imran and his wife. On January 6, 2024, the court declared the other six defendants delinquent because they were not tried and fled to foreign countries. The court indicted Imran and Bushra on February 27, 2024. The prosecution presented 35 witnesses, whom the defense then cross-examined.
The key witnesses in the case included former principal secretary to Prime Minister Azam Khan, former defense minister Pervez Khattak and former federal minister Zubaida Jalal.
Three different judges presided over the case at different stages of the trial while the final investigator, Mian Umar Nadeem, was cross-examined after 38 hearings.
The accountability court gave the defendants 15 opportunities to complete their statements under Section 342. However, no witnesses were presented by the defense.