In the £190 million corruption case, Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, and his wife Bushra Bibi were indicted by a Rawalpindi accountability tribunal on Tuesday.
Judge Mohammad Bashir, who is retiring in a few weeks, was replaced by Judge Nasir Javed Rana, who presided over the session at Adiala Jail, where the PTI founder is currently being held.
In relation to Al-Qadir University, the National Accountbility Bureau (NAB) filed a corruption reference towards Imran and seven other people, including his wife, in December.
According to the indictment, Imran and Bushra Bibi acquired land valued at hundreds of kanals and billions of rupees from Bahria Town Ltd in exchange for legalising Rs50 billion that the UK had discovered and repatriated to the nation during the previous PTI administration.
Imran, who is presently detained, was accused of having a “pivotal role in the illicit transfer of assets meant for the state of Pakistan into a bank account designated for the purchase of land by Bahria Town, Karachi” in the NAB reference that was filed. Additionally, it stated that the accused purposefully and knowingly with bad intentions refused to offer information on various pretexts, even after being given numerous chances to defend themselves and submit information.
Property magnate Malik Riaz Hussain, together with his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, Mirza Shehzad Akbar, as well as Zulfi Bukhari, are also included in this reference as suspects. However, rather than cooperating with the investigation and the ensuing legal processes, these individuals fled and were later designated as proclaimed offenders (PO).
Ziaul Mustafa Nasim, a legal specialist for the PTI government’s Assets Recovery Unit, and Farhat Shahzadi, a close companion of PTI chief Imran Khan’s spouse, were both designated POs. All six of the accused’s properties were subsequently frozen.
The ex-premier as well as former first lady were scheduled to be indicted by Judge Bashir on January 26, but the indictment was postponed until January 30. Then, it was rescheduled for February 10; but, this time, it was postponed until today, February 27.
Judge Rana read the charges against the two today. Bushra and Imran both refuted the accusations. Five NAB witnesses were subsequently called by the court for the subsequent hearing on March 6.
Umair Niazi, a PTI attorney, affirmed the indictment and the summons of witnesses for the upcoming hearing.
The citation
According to the reference, the accused “were given multiple opportunities to provide information and justify their actions, but they purposefully and maliciously refused to provide the information on one or more pretexts.”
Furthermore, it is clear from their comments that they lack any defense to refute the charges that were previously addressed. Accordingly, each of them has violated the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).
According to the NAO, it was also stated that the investigation’s current results and processes “established that accused individuals in connivance with one another were guilty of an act of corruption as well as corrupt practices.”
According to the citation, Imran was “pivotal” to the illegal transfer of money intended for the state but ultimately going to Riaz.
According to the reference, Akbar, the head of the Asset Recovery Unit and a prior special assistant to the prime, was “crucially involved” in the “illegal design of the funds,” which belonged to the state.
According to the reference, Malik and the other respondents had “actively aided, abetted , assisted as well as acted in conspiracy” for the misuse of state monies.
It was stated that Shahzadi and Bushra Bibi were both “significant” and “crucial” players in the “illegal activities,” with the latter serving as Imran and his wife’s “front woman.”
The reference stated that because there was “sufficient incriminating evidence” to support the reference, it was “just and proper” to move forward with the eight accused.
It begged that the court or any other body to whom the reference was assigned try and punish the eight accused in line with the law.
