£190m case: Verdict now scheduled for Jan 6
The trial court that heard a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference with regard to alleged misappropriation of £190m during the PTI's rule will now announce its verdict on January 6. Former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi are among the key accused in the case.
After conclusion of arguments, Islamabad Accountability Court-I Judge Nasir Javed Rana on December 18 reserved his order and adjourned the proceedings till December 23.
However, on December 22, a day before the scheduled unveiling of the verdict in this crucial case, the court staff telephoned the accused's counsels, informing them that the court had deferred issuing the verdict and a new date would now be announced on December 23.
When the court resumed hearing the case on Monday at Islamabad Judicial Complex one of the counsels, Khalid Chaudhry, expressed his slight disappointment at the delay, stating that they expected a verdict.
Judge Rana said the verdict would not be issued today due to the upcoming holidays and a training course being offered by the Islamabad High Court (IHC). He advised checking back in ten minutes to confirm the date.
Later, the court announced the decision date, stating that the judgment in the £190 million reference would be delivered on January 6.
In December 2023, NAB filed a corruption reference against Imran and seven others, including his wife, in connection with the Al-Qadir University.
At the last hearing, Barrister Salman Safdar, counsel for the couple, argued that the case was one of "political revenge", adding that the defence had been proved innocent in previous cases.
He said the case was one in which the matter involved PML-N President Nawaz Sharif's son, Hassan Nawaz, as well and yet the latter was not included in proceedings.
"The reference was made to target a specific couple. Before becoming the prime minister, the PTI founder was known as a social worker, collecting donations worth billions of rupees," he said.
"Political revenge has become so blind that social work has also been targeted. Not even a penny went into the pockets of the accused," he said.
The defence also argued that NAB changed its position in the reference.
Earlier in September, the accountability court rejected Imran and Bushra's petitions, seeking acquittal in the case under the amended National Accountability Ordinance of 1999.
Relying upon the amended NAO, Imran claimed that the case against him was initiated on the basis of a meeting of the federal cabinet and the law has protected the decision taken by the cabinet.
"Despite being fully aware that the case does not fall within the ambit of the NAO, NAB exceeded its jurisdiction and filed a false and frivolous reference, alleging that the applicant, as prime minister of Pakistan, chaired the cabinet meeting held on Dec 3, 2019, during which a deed of confidentiality was approved," said Imran's petition
It said the NAB had accused the former PM of misusing his authority for according the said approval and, in return, obtained approximately 458 kanals of land in tehsil Sohawa of Jhelum district, Rs285m in cash, and other benefits under the guise of donations for Al-Qadir University Project Trust.