Will £190 million case verdict be finally out today

Islamabad Accountability Court-I Judge Nasir Javed Rana to unveil the order in a courtroom inside Adiala Jail,

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RAWALPINDI:

A trial court is scheduled to announce its verdict today in the £190m corruption reference in which former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi are among the key accused.

Islamabad Accountability Court-I Judge Nasir Javed Rana will unveil the order in a courtroom inside Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, where Imran has been detained for over one year.

Interestingly, the court has already deferred announcing the verdict thrice amid ongoing talks between the PML-N federal government and Imran Khan's PTI.

Judge Rana had reserved his verdict in the case on December 18 while adjourning the case till December 23. However, on December 23, the court deferred announcing the order without giving any reasons.

On January 6, the next date of hearing, the verdict was once again not unveiled as the judge was attending a training session organized for all the district and session judges.

Ahead of the last hearing of the case, the court staff informed counsels for Imran and Bushra that the judge was going to announce the verdict on January 13 but on that day, the court once again deferred announcing its verdict after Imran Khan and his wife failed to show up in the court.

Earlier, Judge Rana remarked that he had arrived at the court at 8:30am but neither Imran nor Bushra had arrived till 10:30am despite the fact that the court staff had informed the lawyers of the accused a day earlier that the verdict would be announced on January 13.

"I have sent messages to Imran Khan twice [in his prison cell], asking him to appear in court, but he has responded that he will not come until his wife and lawyers are present." Later, the court adjourned the proceedings till January 17 (today).

NAB filed the reference on December 1, 2023 against eight accused persons including Imran and his wife. The court on January 6, 2024 declared the rest of six accused proclaimed offenders as they did not face the trial and escaped to foreign countries. The court indicted Imran and Bushra on February 27, 2024. The prosecution presented 35 witnesses, whom the defense later cross-examined.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar declared the £190 million scam an unprecedented corruption scandal in the history of Pakistan "in which irrefutable evidence was presented in the trial court [against the accused]".

"Imran Khan is the only leader in the history of Pakistan who has confessed to having no source of income. I ask the PTI leadership to tell us how a house worth Rs250 million at Lahore's Zaman Park Lahore became a reality when Imran had no source of income?" he asked.