ISLAMABAD: The investigating officer was not present at the hearing on the petition for post-arrest bail for former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in a £190 million corruption case, which irked the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday.
The hearing on the bail petitions was recommenced by the IHC division bench, which is composed of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and Chief Justice Aamer Farooq. Amjad Pervaiz, the special prosecutor for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), wasn’t present either.
His accomplice told the court that Mr. Pervaiz was unable to go from Lahore because there had been no notification on the case’s fixing. In response, Justice Farooq stated that bail petitions are automatically set after a predetermined amount of time.
Nonetheless, the court asked Mr. Khan’s attorney, Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, to present his case. Mr. Khosa contended that the disputed sum was paid into the Supreme Court’s account after being agreed upon and moved from the UK to Pakistan.
Justice Jahangiri asked how the money ended up in the accounts of the SC. In response, Mr. Khosa stated that it was moved in accordance with a private agreement that Miraz Shahzad Akbar, the accountability adviser at the time, had signed.
According to Advocate Khosa, Malik Riaz was requested to deposit Rs. 460 billion into an account that the Supreme Court had formed. Justice Jahangiri also asked why the money was blocked in the UK and if it was proceeds from criminal activity.
In response, the attorney stated that the transaction was questionable but was eventually cleared.
The court questioned why the property tycoon Malik Riaz and the National Crime Agency UK signed a private agreement, and why the federal cabinet was asked to approve it. The adviser to the then prime minister was one of the signatories.
A new hearing was postponed by the court until April 29.
