Court to announce Verdict on Bushra Bibi
Sep. 5, ISLAMABAD (DNA): On Thursday, an accountability court located in Islamabad is scheduled to declare its decision about the appeal submitted by Bushra Bibi, the wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, regarding her dismissal in the £190 million arbitration case.
In her petition, the former first lady asked the court to acquit her in the case. Judge Nasir Javed Rana reserved the ruling for Wednesday, September 5, following the hearing of arguments from all sides.
Real Estate Case
In a case involving a real estate mogul, the imprisoned former premier and his spouse are accused of causing the national exchequer to lose billions of dollars.
The Adiala jail in Rawalpindi hosted the case’s prior hearing.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), on the other hand, contested Bushra’s request for acquittal.
Bushra Bibi and the founder of the PTI were in the courtroom a day earlier. However, because the PTI lawyer was not present, the NAB investigating officer could not be cross-examined.
Usman Riaz Gul argued for Bushra Bibi’s acquittal during the hearing on her behalf. Additionally, the court ruled that the NAB chairman’s contempt petition was ineffectual because it was irrelevant given the arguments made in favor of the plea of acquittal.
The judge therefore ruled that the request to begin contempt proceedings against the NAB chairman was “ineffective” as a result of the defense’s and prosecution’s arguments on the acquittal plea.
Court Verdict in July About Bushra Bibi
Early in July, the accountability court granted the pair post-arrest bail in the same case; nevertheless, they were still detained at that time because of the ongoing Iddat case, which is also referred to as the un-Islamic nikah case.
The two were later cleared in the Iddat case on July 13, but they were detained in connection with a fresh Toshakhana referral that the anti-graft body had filed.
Following her and Khan’s conviction in the infamous Toshakhana case involving the illicit sale of official gifts, the former first lady was first detained in January of this year and placed under house arrest at her Bani Gala home.
The IHC halted the pair’s sentence in the reference in April.
After the IHC accepted her request to contest the house arrest, she was later moved to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail in May.
A district and sessions court cleared Imran and Bushra in the iddat case in July.
Bushra is still incarcerated in other cases, such as the £190 million NCA scam and a recent Tohshakhana reference involving a set of jewelry that the Saudi crown prince gave him.
What is a settlement case worth £190 million?
According to the allegations, as part of the deal with the property tycoon, Khan and the other defendants allegedly altered Rs 50 billion, or £190 million at the time, handed to the Pakistani government by the National Crime Agency (NCA) of Britain.
On December 3, 2019, the then-prime minister Khan received cabinet approval for the settlement with the UK crime agency without sharing the specifics of the classified deal.
It was determined that the tycoon would present the funds to the Supreme Court.
In exchange for striking an agreement to give legal cover to the property tycoon’s black money obtained from the UK crime agency, Imran Khan and his wife allegedly obtained land worth billions of rupees from the property tycoon to develop an educational institute.
