ISLAMABAD: An accountability court completed hearing in the 190-million-pound reference against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi.
Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana reserved the verdict after defence lawyers for PTI founder and his wife, Bushra Bibi, concluded their final arguments.
The final trial hearing lasted over 8 hours, during which Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi appeared in court.
The verdict will be announced on December 23.
Earlier, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) completed final arguments in the 190-million-pound reference against Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi at Adiala jail.
NAB prosecutor Amjad Parvez gave the final arguments and informed the court that a confidential deed was signed between the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Pakistan’s Asset Recovery Unit on 6 November 2019.
He argued that the government at the time did not have the authority to keep the agreement between the NCA and the private housing society confidential.
The NAB prosecutor said that the NCA transferred the first installment to the liability account of the private housing scheme on November 29. The then-prime minister (Imran Khan) secured a cursory approval from the cabinet on December 2, 2019, to keep the agreement confidential. The cabinet approval was obtained only after the first installment had already been transferred to the account.
He further said that, according to procedure, the agenda of a cabinet meeting was shared with all members seven days in advance, which was not done in this case, in violation of the Rules of Business 1973.
During the arguments, Amjad Pervez argued that if a public officeholder receives any funds or donations, they were considered the property of the state of Pakistan. However, in this case, the confiscated funds were sent to the liability account of a private housing society, violating Section 5 (Clause T) of the NAB Ordinance.
He explained that under Section 92 of the NAB Ordinance, any amount or benefit obtained by a public officeholder is deemed as bribery. In this reference, 240 kanals of land were transferred even before the trust was established. He further argued that the accused failed to produce a copy of the agreement in their Section 342 statements, while correspondence between the ARU and NCA had begun even before the funds were frozen.
The NAB lawyers also submitted copies of relevant decisions from the Pakistani High Court and the Indian Supreme Court to the court.
On December 1, 2023, the NAB filed the reference against Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, among others, in the high-profile 190-million-pound case.
The NAB had lodged a reference in Islamabad’s accountability court, pinpointing Imran Khan’s alleged involvement in a 190-million-pound scam.