Judge Rana to hear £190m case now

In an interesting development, the Ministry of Law has reappointed Nasir Javed Rana as the judge of Islamabad Accountability Court-I, where £190 million corruption case is being adjudicated.

Judge Rana had stepped down as the Accountability Court-I judge on June 7 on completion of his 3-year deputation period. The ministry had assigned additional responsibility of Accountability Court-I to Judge Muhammad Ali Warraich of Accountability Court-II for a period of three months.

Judge Warraich had started hearing the £190 million corruption case in which former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi are prime accused, Imran's lawyers had objected, stating that the judge could not hear the reference.

Barrister Salman Safdar had argued that the Ministry of Law's notification regarding the appointment of the new judge was incorrect, and that the judge of Accountability Court-II could not hear the case with the additional charge of Accountability Court-I.

According to the ministry's recent notification, Judge Rana has been appointed to the position for another three years. Additionally, Additional District and Sessions Judge Abida Sajjad has been appointed to Islamabad's Accountability Court-II.

Meanwhile, Judge Rana while hearing the £190 million case adjourned proceedings till August 7 due to the absence of Imran's lawyer Chaudhry Zaheer Abbas. Abbas was supposed to cross-examine NAB Investigating Officer Mian Umar Nadeem.

At the start of the hearing, Bushra Bibi's lawyer, Usman Gul, informed the court that Abbas was unavailable and would cross-examine the NAB investigating officer at the next hearing.