ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has granted a request by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, halting the trial court from delivering its final verdict in the £190 million settlement case.
The case was heard by a two-member divisional bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Babar Sattar on Monday.
Khan, the former prime minister, had filed a plea seeking the records of a previous National Accountability Bureau (NAB) decision to close the graft case.
Imran Khan, who is currently incarcerated, is accused of causing a significant financial loss to the national exchequer in a case involving a prominent property tycoon.
During the hearing, Khan’s lawyer, Salman Safdar, argued that the trial was still ongoing, with the last of the 35 witnesses under cross-examination.
He also mentioned that there were eight accused in the case, six of whom are absconders, while Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi,are the other two.
The allegations against Khan suggest that he facilitated a settlement between the government and the property tycoon during his tenure as prime minister.
Safdar pointed out that the case involves £190 million received from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) in 2019. He argued that NAB claimed the funds should have been transferred to the government’s account but were instead deposited in the Supreme Court’s bank account.
Additionally, the Al Qadir Trust, which was supposed to be operational, was questioned by the court regarding its registration status.
When asked by the bench if the trust was registered, Safdar initially confirmed but later stated that he would verify and provide the information at the next hearing. The lawyer also informed the court that a plea for access to NAB’s executive board meeting records was denied by the trial court. Furthermore, he mentioned that, according to Supreme Court orders, accountability courts are restricted from issuing final verdicts.
Justice Hassan cautioned Khan’s counsel against using delaying tactics, warning that the court might lift the stay on the final verdict and instruct the trial court to announce its decision promptly.
The IHC eventually directed the trial court to pause its final decision for now and ordered NAB to respond to Khan’s plea by Wednesday, August 21. The court also stated that the trial would continue in the meantime.
Khan, along with his wife Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders, is facing a NAB inquiry related to the settlement between the PTI government and the property tycoon, which allegedly resulted in a £190 million loss to the national treasury.
The charges claim that Khan and others improperly adjusted Rs50 billion—equivalent to £190 million at the time—sent by Britain’s NCA to the Pakistani government as part of the settlement with the tycoon. They are also accused of benefiting from over 458 kanals of land in Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa, to establish Al Qadir University.
During Khan’s tenure as prime minister, the NCA in Britain seized assets worth £190 million from the property tycoon, stating that the assets would be transferred to the Pakistani government.
The NCA described the settlement with the tycoon as a civil matter, not a criminal conviction. Subsequently, Khan’s cabinet approved the settlement with the UK crime agency on December 3, 2019, without disclosing the confidential agreement’s details. The funds were decided to be deposited in the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon.
Following the settlement’s approval, the Al-Qadir Trust was established in Islamabad, with Zulfi Bukhari, Babar Awan, Bushra Bibi, and her close associate Farah Khan appointed as members. A few months later, the property tycoon transferred 458 kanals of land to Bukhari, who then transferred it to the trust.
Bukhari and Awan later resigned as trustees, leaving Khan, Bushra Bibi, and Farah as the remaining members.
NAB officials were initially investigating the alleged misuse of power in the process of recovering “dirty money” received from the UK crime agency.
Upon discovering “irrefutable evidence,” the inquiry was escalated to a full investigation. According to NAB, Khan and his wife allegedly acquired land worth billions of rupees from the property tycoon to establish an educational institution in exchange for providing legal cover for the tycoon’s black money received from the UK crime agency.
