NAB sources say notification about PTI chairman's jail trial will be issued soon
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
NAB arrests Imran Khan in Al-Qadir Trust, Toshakhan cases.
He is considering various options for requesting Khan's physical custody.
A prison trial announcement will be made soon: sources.
ISLAMABAD: The trial of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Imran Khan in the £190 million settlement case is likely to take place at Adiala Jail, where the former prime minister is currently being held in the cipher case.
The PTI chairman was arrested a day earlier in the Al-Qadir Trust and Toshakhana cases after an Islamabad court issued warrants against him.
A National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team led by Deputy Director Muhammad Asif and Waqarul Hasan visited Adiala Jail and executed warrants through the Jail Warden.
Earlier today, Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir was asked by reporters if Khan would face a prison trial in the settlement case, as notification is pending in the matter.
To this, Justice Bashir replied that it is possible if the notification is approved. He added that NAB can tell where the former prime minister will be manufactured.
"So you're going to Adiala prison too?" the judge questioned journalists present in court.
The journalists responded that they were not allowed to enter and report inside Adiala prison.
The judge assured the journalist that they would do something about the matter if there was a prison trial. He added that public hearings allow everyone to listen to the proceedings.
Earlier during the hearing, the judge asked the NAB prosecutor when the PTI chairman would be produced.
"Is Imran Khan in jail or taken to police station?" he asked.
However, the public prosecutor NAB showed ignorance of the issue.
Judge Bashir then ordered the prosecutor to check whether a prison trial notice had been issued.
NAB is considering various options for physical detention
Meanwhile, sources revealed that NAB was considering various options to seek physical custody of Imran Khan.
Sources added that it is important to get a notification from the Law Ministry about the physical custody of the former prime minister in Adiala jail.
"A notification regarding the jail process will be issued soon," NAB sources said, adding that it is important to produce the accused before the court within 24 hours of the arrest.
The PTI chief was indicted by a special court and is currently lodged in Adiala jail in a cipher case.
£190m settlement case
PTI chairman faces multi-billion rupee corruption charges in property tycoon case.
Khan - along with his wife Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders - is facing a NAB investigation related to a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon that allegedly cost the exchequer £190 million.
According to the indictment, Khan and the other accused allegedly manipulated Rs 50 billion - £190 million at the time - sent by Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government as part of a deal with the property tycoon.
They are also accused of receiving undue benefit in the form of more than 458 kanals of land in Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa, to establish Al Qadir University.
During the PTI government, the NCA seized assets worth £190 million from a property tycoon in Britain.
The agency said the assets would be handed over to the Pakistani government and the settlement with the Pakistani property tycoon was "a civil matter and does not constitute a finding of guilt".
Subsequently, then-Prime Minister Khan received approval from his cabinet on 3 December 2019 to settle with the British Crime Agency, without disclosing details of the confidential agreement.
It was decided that the money would be presented to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon.
Subsequently, Al-Qadir Trust was established in Islamabad weeks after the PTI-led government approved the deal with the property tycoon.
Zulfi Bukhari, Babar Awan, Bushra Bibi and her close friend Farah Khan were appointed members of the trust.
Two to three months after the Cabinet approval, the property tycoon transferred 458 kanals of land to Bukhari, a close associate of the PTI chief, which he later transferred to a trust.
Later, Bukhari and Awan signed out as administrators. This trust is now registered in the name of Khan, Bushra Bibi and Farah.
NAB officials previously investigated alleged abuse of powers in the process of recovering "dirty money" received from the British crime agency.
After "incontrovertible evidence" emerged in the case, the investigation was turned into an inquest.
According to NAB officials, Khan and his wife acquired land worth billions of rupees from a property tycoon to build an educational institute in exchange for a deal to provide legal cover for the tycoon's black money received from the British crime agency.
