Govt approves Imran's in-prison trial in £190 million case

Three-member team led by NAB prosecutor arrives at Adiala jail with judge following approval

RAWALPINDI:

The government approved on Tuesday the law ministry’s request seeking in-prison trial of former prime minister Imran Khan in the £190 million settlement case, according to Express News.

The ministry had earlier sent a circulation summary regarding the same to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The approval was later notified by the law ministry.

The request for approval had been sought by the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) chairman. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief is currently already incarcerated in Adiala jail in the cypher case.

NAB team arrives at Adiala

Following the government's approval, NAB's team arrived at Adiala jail today seeking Imran's physical remand in both the Toshakhana and £190 million settlement cases.

A day earlier, NAB had sought implementation of the accountability court's arrest warrants against the PTI chief in the two cases.

Earlier today, a three-member team led by NAB prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi arrived at Adiala jail, along with accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir Khan.

During yesterday's hearing, the judge ahead of accepting NAB's request inquired of its lawyers regarding the Islamabad High Court's (IHC) orders in the £190 million settlement case.

The lawyers informed that the matter was still pending with the high court, adding that it had neither suspended any order of the court, nor issued any standing order.

Prosecutor Abbasi informed the judge that it would be better if the court issued instructions to the jail superintendent to comply with the warrant. The judge later issued necessary instructions.

Read Imran arrested in gifts, £190m scam cases

The £190m settlement case also includes the former prime minister’s wife, Bushra Bibi, as co-accused. She had appeared before a joint investigation team of NAB in Islamabad a day earlier. The NAB team handed her a questionnaire and directed her to submit her replies.

The settlement case

The £190 million (approximately Rs60 billion) settlement case pertains to the money of a property tycoon being laundered and caught by the UK authorities during Imran's government in 2019. The UK government had informed the Pakistani authorities regarding the money being caught.

The notorious May 9 arrest of the ex-prime minister came in this case for the first time.

Addressing a press conference regarding Imran's arrest in the case at the time, then interior minister Rana Sanaullah said that as per law, the amount belonged to the Pakistani nation and should have been deposited in the national exchequer. “Instead [the then adviser to the prime minister] Shahzad Akbar acting as a front-man, got formed the Al-Qadir Trust under a deal executed by him,” he claimed.

The minister said some 458-kanal of land in Sohawa and another 240-kanal in Bani Gala were registered in the name of Al-Qadir Trust.

Sanaullah said some seven to eight months ago, he had provided details of the two properties and had challenged the PTI chief to clarify if Al-Qadir Trust was not established by Imran himself to hide his corruption.

Sanaullah said the PTI chief and his wife Bushra Bibi were the only two trustees of the trust.

He said the 240-kanal of land in Bani Gala, worth around Rs5-7 billion, was registered in the name of Farah Gogi, a close friend of Imran Khan's wife, while Akbar had also taken Rs2 billion for his services.

He said instead of depositing Rs60 billion into the national treasury, the amount landed in the bank account of the Supreme Court, where the accused property tycoon was under trial. The amount was, in fact, returned to the accused in a complex manner to hoodwink the masses, he added.

Additional reporting by Qaiser Shirazi.