Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Saturday said that an amount recovered by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) in a settlement with the family of property tycoon Malik Riaz and subsequently handed over to the federal government would be used for the nation’s welfare.
The information minister was addressing a press conference in Lahore a day after the sentencing in the Al-Qadir Trust Case. Former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi were formally convicted in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, sentencing both to prison.
As per the verdict, the “property of the sham … Al-Qadir University Project Trust” was forfeited to the federal government. The other accused, namely Bahria Town owner Malik Riaz Hussain, his son Ahmed Ali Riaz Malik, former accountability czar Mirza Shahzad Akbar, former PM’s aide Zulfi Bukhari, Farhat Shahzadi and Ziaul Mustafa Nasim have already been declared proclaimed offenders and perpetual warrants for their arrest and the confiscation of their properties has been ordered.
The detailed verdict, spanning 148 pages, recalled that the Supreme Court had held that the grant of land by the Sindh Board of Revenue (SBR) to the Malir Development Authority (MDA), and the MDA’s subsequent exchange of the land with the Bahria Town (Pvt) Limited were all illegal and a result of collusion amongst all the stakeholders.
Subsequently, Bahria Town agreed to pay a total sum of Rs460 billion for the land. The verdict said that funds from foreign bank accounts, previously frozen by the NCA, were repatriated to settle the liabilities of Bahria Town instead of being added to the national kitty.
In his press conference on the entire situation, the information minister said: “The fine [of Rs460bn] which was applied [by the Supreme Court] that was being paid through this amount [of £190m], obviously after this order this amount will not be able to be used to pay for that fine. So now it is a matter between that private party and the court how the court recovers that money.
“The state’s job was to recover the amount that was to be returned to it. So now it will return and it will be used for the welfare of the nation.”
Tarar said legal consultation was ongoing on how to bring the absconders back and what avenues would be used for that.
The minister claimed that Imran had no legal recourse for an appeal in the case, also demanding that any appeal be fixed after hearing after pending appeals were decided.
“They don’t have material, legal argument, documentation and evidence that is why they will try to play around with technicality. The appeal will be very weak … I don’t the case has enough merit that the appeal is upheld beyond two or three hearings,” he said.
PTI’s Shibli Faraz claims £190m case verdict leaked online
Separately, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Shibli Faraz has alleged that the verdict leaked online ahead of the hearing.
“Some people managed to find out the sentencing before the hearing took place,” he said in an interview on DawnNewsTV programme ‘Doosra Rukh’ on Friday.
“This goes to show how many people must be involved in leaking the verdict and what their intentions are. The only thing missing was the date because the hearing kept getting delayed.”
The senator expressed hope that the party would “continue to fight its judicial battles steadfastly” and that it was seriously pursuing the ongoing talks with the government.
When asked if the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) should investigate the leak, Shibli responded in the affirmative. “The CJP should absolutely take notice. People had this information 10 days before the verdict,” he said, likening the situation to the results of an exam getting leaked before the test.
“This is Pakistan’s struggle, we are fighting to put the country on the path of democracy and the supremacy of the rule of law.”