RAWALPINDI: An accountability court on Thursday rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s plea for acquittal in a ₹ 190 crore case.
The verdict was announced after arguments of all parties in the case were heard at a hearing held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
The court has set September 13 (tomorrow) for cross-examination of the investigating officer, who is the last witness in the case.
The Accountability Court had on September 10 postponed till today the hearing of a petition seeking acquittal of the former prime minister and his wife, who are jailed in the case.
Earlier, Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi had attended a hearing before Judge Nasir Javed Rana of the Accountability Court at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
The PTI founder had on September 7 filed the petition seeking acquittal in the ₹ 190 crore case following the Supreme Court’s verdict in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) amendment case, in which the apex court accepted an intra-court appeal against last year’s verdict that struck down changes to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).
The couple are accused of causing billions of rupees of loss to the state exchequer. Last week, the court reserved its verdict on Bushra’s not guilty plea in the case.
During the subsequent hearing, the lawyers for Khan and Bushra were not able to cross-examine the last reference witness, Mian Umer Nadeem, who is also the investigating officer, as he was not present for a hearing at the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Moreover, assistant defence lawyer Faisal Chaudhry’s request for adjournment of the trial was opposed by the NAB prosecution team.
Prosecutors from the anti-corruption group had said Khan and Bushra’s defense teams had been given 16 opportunities to cross-examine the final witness and were using delaying tactics in the case.
The NAB prosecutor pointed out that 12 affidavits have been filed by the defence in the case and said that with lawyers Ali Zafar and Chaudhry now present, cross-examination of the witnesses should be carried out.
In response, Chowdhury requested the court to give him an opportunity and said he would cross-examine the witnesses if the lawyers did not appear at the next hearing.
What is the £190 million affair?
According to the charges in the case, Khan and the other defendants are accused of fraudulently manipulating 50 billion rupees (£190 million at the time) that was transferred by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government as part of an arrangement with the property tycoon.
Then-Prime Minister Khan subsequently received cabinet approval for a settlement with the UK Criminal Investigation Agency on December 3, 2019, but did not disclose details of the secret agreement.
It was decided that the money would be submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of the billionaire.
NAB officials said Khan and his wife had acquired land worth billions of rupees from the real estate tycoon to build educational institutions in return for signing a deal to legally conceal black money the real estate tycoon had received from the UK’s Criminal Investigation Agency.
