NAB drops 10 witnesses in £190m case

PTI founder says no deal will be struck; ready for talks with everyone except three parties

RAWALPINDI:

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has dropped 10 “unnecessary” prosecution witnesses in the £190 million reference currently being tried in the accountability court against the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi.

The reference was heard by Islamabad Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana inside the Adiala Central Jail on Friday. Imran and Bibi, along with a team of lawyers, including Usman Gul, Salman Safdar and Chaudhry Zaheer Abbas were present in the court.

NAB Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi informed the judge in writing that out of the total 59 witnesses in the reference the prosecution had dropped 10 witnesses as unnecessary. Among the remaining 49 witnesses, 26 witnesses had already recorded their statements to the court.

Among them, the cross-examination of witnesses had been completed by the defence lawyers. The NAB prosecutor general said that now the statement of 23 more witnesses would recorded during the trial proceedings.

During the hearing, statement of one witness was recorded, and one witness was cross-examined. The cross examination of a third witness was continuing, when the court rose for the day and the further proceedings were adjourned until May 8.

Talking to the media persons after the hearing, the PTI founder said that he had proposed three names for talks but not for any deal, adding that that no retired officers had been given the task of negotiations.

“The deal is struck to avoid jail, like [President Asif] Zardari and [former prime minister] Nawaz Sharif did and went out,” he said. “I have been saying for 18 months that we are ready for talks. There is always talk in politics. We will talk to everyone, except three parties,” he added, without elaborating.

Imran criticised NAB, saying that it was bringing a new Toshakhana case. He requested the judges to decide the PTI’s cases at the earliest. “The hearing of the cipher case is going on and on. While drama was being staged in the Iddat case,” he charged.

Responding to a question about the health of Bushra Bibi, Imran said that in fact none of her medical tests came back negative. “What will happen when the tests are conducted after three months? Bushra Bibi's health is still not well,” he said.

Later, several PTI leaders, including party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Ali Muhammad Khan, besides former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Abid Zubiri met the PTI founder. Ali Muhammad Khan had met Imran after a gap of one year.

Meanwhile, speaking outside the Adiala Jail, Abid Zubiri said that they had come to see the trial. “I feel that this is neither a fair trial nor an open trial,” he said. “There should be a fair trial according to the Constitution and the law.” He demanded that the PTI founder’s cases should be tried in open court.