An accountability court granted former premier Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi pre-arrest bail in a £190 million corruption reference.
In December, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a corruption reference against Khan and seven others, including his wife, in connection with the Al-Qadir University Project Trust. The case alleged that Khan and Bushra Bibi obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government.
The reference filed by NAB further alleged that Khan, who is currently in jail, played a “pivotal role in the illicit transfer of funds meant for the state of Pakistan into an account designated for the payment of land by Bahria Town, Karachi”. It also claimed that despite being given multiple opportunities to justify and provide information, the accused deliberately, with mala fide intention, refused to give information on one pretext or another.
Khan and his wife were indicted in the case by a Rawalpindi accountability court on February 27, a day after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had issued notices to NAB on the couple’s post-arrest bail plea in the same case.
As of March 13, Khan, Bushra bibi, property tycoon Malik Riaz, his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, former accountability czar Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Farhat Shahzadi (also known as Farah Khan), and Zulfi Bukhari had been nominated as accused people in the reference. Except for the ex-premier and his wife, the rest have been declared proclaimed offenders.
In May, the IHC had approved Imran’s bail application in the case, setting it at Rs1m.
Accountability court judge Muhammad Ali Warraich conducted a hearing related to the case today in which lawyers Salman Safdar, Zahir Abbas Chaudhry, and Usman Riaz Ghul appeared in court on behalf of the married couple. Meanwhile, NAB Prosecutor General Sardar Mazhar Abbasi, Amjad Parvez, Irfan Bhola, and others appeared on the watchdog’s behalf.
During the hearing, Bushra Bibi’s lawyers submitted a bail request for her in the case.Meanwhile, Abbasi argued that the request was not merited since her arrest was not sought in the case and nor had any warrants been issued to this effect, adding that the watchdog had previously maintained this position as well.
