£190m case: Court gives 'final chance' to lawyer for Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi

Accountability court urges the defence team to finish cross-examination in the £190m by the next hearing.

The accountability court hearing the £190 million case, has given a final deadline to the lawyers representing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi for cross-examination of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigation officer.

The hearing took place at Adiala Jail, where both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were present.

The court adjourned the next hering until Friday due to the absence of Bushra Bibi's lawyer, Usman Gul, who was reported to be suffering from dengue.

The defence requested a delay, explaining that Usman Gul’s illness prevented him from attending. NAB lawyers, however, pointed out that Bushra Bibi had four lawyers named in the case, and any of them could have conducted the cross-examination.

NAB lawyers argued in court that the defence themselves brought an order from the Islamabad High Court to proceed with the trial. Now, the defence lawyers are deliberately causing delays in the hearing of the reference.

The court instructed the defence lawyers that they are being given a 'final opportunity,' and the cross-examination of the NAB investigation officer must be completed in the next hearing.

The court, led by Judge Nasir Javed Rana, granted the defence one final opportunity to cross-examine the NAB officer during the next hearing.

The £190 million reference hearing was conducted inside Adiala Jail, where the PTI chairman and his wife were presented before the court. Defence lawyers, including Intizar Panjutha, Naeem Panjutha, and Faisal Fareed Chaudhry, were present, while the NAB team was represented by Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi and his legal team.

NAB prosecutor opposed the request for an adjournment, pointing out that the defence lawyers had already submitted 12 letters of attorney. He argued that the other senior lawyers present could proceed with the cross-examination of the witness.

The prosecutor noted that the last witness in the £190 million reference had appeared in court for 23 previous hearings, but had yet to be cross-examined.

On September 18, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) barred the accountability court from delivering a final judgment in the £190 million case involving Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.

A two-member IHC bench, consisting of Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, heard the couple’s plea for acquittal in the case. While the court ordered the trial court to continue the proceedings, it instructed that no final verdict should be issued at this stage.

On September 7, Imran Khan had filed an acquittal plea in the case, citing the Supreme Court's ruling on NAB amendments, which reinstated previous legal provisions. However, the accountability court rejected Imran Khan's plea on September 12, after hearing arguments from all sides during a hearing held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

Earlier, the defence lawyers for Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi had missed a hearing due to commitments in the Lahore High Court, preventing the cross-examination of the reference’s last witness, Mian Umer Nadeem, an investigating officer. The NAB prosecutor accused the defence of employing delay tactics to stall the case.

In the £190 million corruption reference, Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, and others stand accused of misappropriating Rs50 billion (equivalent to £190 million at the time) sent by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government.

The sum was part of a settlement involving a property tycoon. On December 3, 2019, Imran Khan, as prime minister, received cabinet approval for the settlement with the NCA without disclosing details of the agreement.

His former cabinet members say the approval was sought without disclosing details of the transaction.

NAB claims that Imran Khan and his wife acquired land worth billions from the tycoon, intended for an educational institute, in exchange for making the settlement transaction.