£190m Settlement Case
Following the conclusion of arguments by all parties, an accountability court in Rawalpindi reserved its verdict on Wednesday in the £190 million settlement case involving Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi.
Judge Nasir Javed Rana reserved the ruling after hearing the final arguments from the defence counsels representing the former premier and his wife. The prosecution team, led by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), had concluded its arguments a day earlier. The much-anticipated verdict will be announced on December 3, the judge confirmed.
The case, regarded as one of the largest corruption inquiries in the country’s history, has been under trial for over a year. During this period, the NAB recorded the testimonies of 35 witnesses, including prominent figures such as former principal secretary Azam Khan, ex-chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak, and former federal minister Zubaida Jalal. Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were formally indicted in the case on February 27 of this year.
At the outset of Wednesday’s hearing, NAB Prosecutor Amjad Pervez described the case as the biggest corruption scandal in Pakistan’s history, emphasizing that the £190 million adjustment procedure violated established rules. He stated, “Our case is about obtaining illegal benefits.”
In response, Barrister Salman Safdar, counsel for the defence, argued that the anti-corruption bureau had failed to prove any wrongdoing. He stated that the amount in question remained with the government, and no evidence of personal financial benefit or national loss had been established.
He further accused the prosecution of using “social work,” referring to the Al-Qadir University project, as a means for political victimization.
The £190 million case stems from allegations that the PTI government, under Imran Khan’s leadership, reached a controversial settlement with a prominent property tycoon that caused significant financial losses to the national exchequer.
According to the NAB, the settlement adjusted Rs50 billion—then equivalent to £190 million—received from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA). The funds were meant to be deposited in the national treasury but were instead used to benefit the property tycoon.
Bushra Bibi, a trustee of the Al-Qadir Trust, was also accused of benefiting from the arrangement, as the trust received over 458 kanals of land in Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa, for the establishment of Al-Qadir University.
The NCA, which seized the assets from the property tycoon in Britain, had clarified that the settlement was a civil matter and did not constitute a criminal conviction.
Following the settlement, the PTI-led government approved the transfer of the funds to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon without revealing the details of the confidential agreement.
This case has drawn widespread attention, with the outcome likely to have significant political and legal repercussions.
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