Court to announce verdict on Bushra Bibi’s plea in £190m case

ISLAMABAD, SEP 05 (DNA) : An accountability court in Islamabad Thursday will announce its verdict on the petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi pertaining to her acquittal in the £190 million settlement reference.

The former first lady, in the plea, has requested the court to acquit her in the case, the verdict of which was reserved by Judge Nasir Javed Rana on Wednesday (September 5) after hearing arguments from all the sides.

The incarcerated former premier and his wife are accused of causing billions of rupees loss to the national exchequer in a case also involving a property tycoon.

The previous hearing of the case was held at the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.

Bushra’s acquittal petition was, on the other hand, challenged by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

A day earlier, both the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi were present in the courtroom. However, the NAB investigating officer could not be cross-examined due to the absence of PTI lawyer.

During the hearing, lawyer Usman Riaz Gul represented Bushra Bibi arguing for her acquittal. The court also declared the contempt petition against the NAB chairman ineffective, stating that arguments on the plea for acquittal rendered the contempt petition irrelevant.

Subsequently, the judge declared a request to initiate contempt proceedings against the NAB chairman “ineffective” due to the arguments raised by the prosecution and the defence on the acquital plea.

The couple had secured post-arrest bail from the accountability court in the same case in early July, however, they remained imprisoned due to the iddat case — also known as the un-Islamic nikah case — at that time.

Later, the duo was acquitted in the iddat case on July 13 but they got arrested in a new Toshakhana reference filed by the anti-graft watchdog.

The former first lady was first arrested in January this year and kept under house arrest at her residence in Bani Gala after she along with Khan were convicted in the infamous Toshakhana case related to the illegal sale of state gifts.

The duo’s sentence in the reference was suspended by the IHC in April.

Later, she was shifted to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail in May after the IHC approved her plea challenging the house arrest.

In July, Imran and Bushra were acquitted by a district and sessions court in the iddat case.

However, Bushra remains behind bars in other cases including the £190m NCA scandal and a fresh Tohshakhana reference pertaining to a jewellery set gifted by the Saudi crown prince.

What is £190 million settlement case?

As per the charges, Khan and other accused allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion — £190 million at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government as part of the agreement with the property tycoon.

Subsequently, then-prime minister Khan got approval for the settlement with the UK crime agency from his cabinet on December 3, 2019, without disclosing the 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 the NAB officials, Khan and his wife obtained land worth billions of rupees from the property tycoon, to build an educational institute, in return for striking a deal to give legal cover to the property tycoon’s black money received from the UK crime agency.