AC ‘defers’ £190m case verdict again

Sources say lawyers to be apprised of the new date tomorrow

Court Report

Rawalpindi: An accountability court in Rawalpindi has “deferred” the verdict of £190 million case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi for the third time.

The announcement of the verdict was scheduled for Monday (today).

The accountability court had reserved the verdict on Dec 18, following the conclusion of arguments and had fixed Dec 23 to announce the judgment.

However, the verdict was rescheduled for Jan 6, 2025. The sources said that lawyers would be apprised of the new date today.

The development comes amid ongoing negotiations between the Imran Khan-founded party and the federal government, with both sides expected to hold third round of talks next week.

The government has asked the former ruling party to present its “charter of demands” in writing, with the PTI demanding release of “political prisoners” including party chief Imran Khan and the judicial probe into May 9, 2023 events and November 26 crackdown.

Pointing towards the expected verdict in £190m case, PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram said in a statement that the ongoing negotiation process would not be affected even if the party founder is sentenced in the case.

Also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case, the former prime minister along with his wife, Bushra and others have been accused by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of causing a loss of £190 million to the national exchequer via a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon.

During the one-year-long trial, NAB recorded testimonies of 35 witnesses, including former principal secretary Azam Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ex-chief minister Pervez Khattak and former federal minister Zubaida Jalal.

The said case is part of the plethora of legal challenges faced by the incarcerated PTI founder who has been behind bars since August last year after he was sentenced in Toshakhana case-I.

The anti-graft watchdog had filed the reference against Khan, Bushra, and others in December 2023 over the purported settlement.

As per the charges of the case, 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 a property tycoon.

Subsequently, the then-prime minister 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 NAB officials, the PTI founder 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.

Later, the Al-Qadir Trust was established in Islamabad a few weeks after the PTI-led government approved the agreement with the property tycoon.