£190m case adjourned without S-342 statements

PTI lawyers insist on deciding acquittal plea first

RAWALPINDI:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi failed to submit their statements in the court in the £190 million reference case, with their lawyer insisting on the court's decision on their application for their acquittal first.

Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana heard the case. The court had already asked the accused to file their statement in the case. However, this was the third hearing, the defence did not file answers to the court's questionnaire under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

During the hearing, defence lawyer, Faisal Chaudhry requested the court to first decide their acquittal plea as per the order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). However, the judge told the lawyer that trial court had not yet received any such order.

Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi, the prosecutor on behalf of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) told the court that the IHC had not issued any injunction against the hearing of the trial court. He added that the hearing of a criminal case could not be stayed.

Therefore, the prosecutor insisted that the statement of 342 should be recorded because the acquittal plea could be seen after the decision of the high court. He also pointed out that the IHC had not stopped the trial court from hearing the case.

During the hearing, the PTI founder appeared in the court, but Bibi was no present. The court approved Bibi's application for a one-day exemption and adjourned the hearing till November 15. (tomorrow). Three sisters of the PTI founder were also present in the court during the hearing.