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ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Tuesday issued a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on the post-arrest bail petition of former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse, Bushra Bibi.
The accountability watchdog has filed a reference against the couple, accusing them of retaining an expensive Bvlgari jewellery set from Toshakhana at a throwaway price.
Mr Khan and his spouse are seeking bail in the reference filed by NAB last week.
The couple also pleaded with the court to grant them interim bail till their post-arrest bail petition is decided.
The accountability court judge, Nasir Javed Rana, summoned the case record from NAB and adjourned the hearing till Aug 30.
The bureau alleged that the Saudi royal family gifted a Bvlgari jewellery set to Ms Bibi during her visit to the kingdom in May 2021.
It said that the jewellery set comprises a ring, bracelet, necklace and earrings.
The initial investigation found that the former first couple illegally retained this jewellery set, according to NAB.
On May 18, 2021, the then deputy military secretary to the PM, Col Rehan Mohammad, asked the Toshakhana section officer to evaluate the set’s price.
The section officer was also told that Mr Khan intends to retain the gift and declare it in his record.
According to the reference, a franchise of Bvlgari sold the said jewellery set to the Saudi government on May 25, 2018, for 300,000 euros and earrings for 80,000 euros.
NAB claimed that in May 2021, the total value of the jewellery set was over Rs75 million, and 50pc of that amount — over Rs35.7m — was not deposited in the treasury.
NAB alleged Mr Khan retained 58 of 108 gifts he received from heads of state and other dignitaries.
Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2024
Malik Asad is an Islamabad-based reporter for Dawn with two decades of experience covering legal affairs, judicial developments, and the civil bureaucracy. He can be found on X at @asadrp.
