KARACHI: After multiple postponements, the verdict in the £190m Al-Qadir Trust case against former PM Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi is expected to be announced today (Monday).
On Dec 23 — the original date the verdict was supposed to be announced — an Islamabad accountability court postponed its verdict in the case until Jan 6 due to winter vacations.
Then, on Jan 6, the decision could not be pronounced as Judge Nasir Javed Rana was on leave.
Khawaja Asif hopes ‘justice will be served’ in case against Imran, Bushra
On Monday, the judge is expected to deliver the verdict in a makeshift courtroom at Adiala Jail, where hearings of the case have continued over the past year.
Mr Khan and his wife were indicted in the case on Feb 27, 2024, shortly after the general elections.
In its reference against Mr Khan, NAB alleged that the then cabinet approved a confidential deed in 2019 to give £190m — seized by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and returned to Pakistan — back to real estate tycoon Malik Riaz.
The bureau alleged that Mr Khan and Bushra Bibi, in return, got billions of rupees and land measuring hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town for “legalising” the money.
As per the reference, Malik Riaz’s son transferred 240 kanals of land to Farhat Shahzadi, while Zulfi Bukhari received land under a trust, which NAB argued did not exist at the time of transfer.
The prosecution further alleged that a trust was created only after the adjustment of the 190m pounds, raising doubts about its legitimacy and purpose.
Asif hopes ‘justice will prevail’
Ahead of the likely verdict in the £190 million case, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif hoped that “justice will prevail”.
Speaking to reporters in Sialkot, he maintained that the US had not asked the Pakistan government to give relief to Imran Khan, or anyone else.
The PTI is telling people that America is closely monitoring the situation in Pakistan, that it is going to take major decisions in their favour, he said, adding that there was no such thing on the cards.
He said that Pakistan and the US had a relationship, which had been going strong for 76 years, and assailed what he called “PTI’s new dramas in America”.
“This is the same country to which the PTI had said ‘absolutely not’… but now they’re saying ‘absolutely yes’. The PTI leader and its leadership have bowed down before America.”
Mr Asif also claimed that around a billion rupees had been paid to lawyers to secure Imran Khan’s release in corruption cases.
He noted that other courts were also hearing cases regarding Imran Khan’s activities, and decisions are yet to be issued in those cases.
Assailing the party’s narrative of mobilising overseas Pakistanis against the government, the minister said that Pakistanis living abroad had sent home $4bn more than ever before.
Abid Mahmood in Narowal contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2025
