ISLAMABAD: Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi on Tuesday submitted separate bail petitions in an accountability court seeking their release in the new Toshakhana case.
Mentioning the state and chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as parties to the case, both the applications filed through Barrister Salman Safdar under Section 9(b) of NA Ordinance 1999 and Section 497 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) request the accountability court to grant post-arrest bail to the couple in "interest of justice and fair play".
The development comes as both Imran and Bushra are on judicial remand in Adiala jail over the Toshakhana reference filed by the anti-graft watchdog last week.
The duo was arrested in the said case on July 13 hours after a district and sessions court in Islamabad acquitted them in the iddat case — also known as the un-Islamic nikah case — which was the last hurdle in the couple's release from jail before the filing of the new cases.
The reference — which consists of two volumes — was filed by NAB investigation officer Mohsin Haroon and case officer Waqar Hassan in an accountability court.
The fresh reference will now be reviewed by the registrar of the accountability courts. After removing the objections, the reference will be sent to the administrative judge of the accountability court.
The administrative judge will then decide whether to conduct the hearing himself or transfer it to another accountability court.
It should be noted that administrative Judge Nasir Javed Rana is already hearing the £190 million reference against the PTI founder.
The new NAB reference pertains to a case related to a jewellery set gifted to former first lady Bushra by the Saudi crown prince when Imran was the prime minister of the country from 2018 to 2022.
The jewellery set — comprising a ring, bracelet, necklace a pair of earrings — was gifted to the former first lady on her visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2021, as per the NAB's reference.
It said the PTI founder and his wife have illegally kept the jewellery set.
It added that the deputy military secretary briefed the Toshakhana section officer to estimate and declare the price of the jewellery set.
The jewellery set, it mentioned, was not deposited in Toshakhana.
The jewellery company sold the necklace for €300,000 and earrings for €80,000 on May 25, 2018. The information regarding the price of the bracelet and ring could not be obtained from the company.
On May 28, 2021, the price of the jewellery set was estimated at Rs70.56 million; the price of the necklace was Rs50.64 million and the price of the earrings included in the jewellery valued at Rs10.50 million back then.
According to the rules, the 50% price of the jewellery set is approximately Rs30.57 million.
The national exchequer suffered a loss of approximately Rs30.28 after the jewellery was undervalued.
As per the reference, the PTI founder and his wife violated the NAB Ordinance. It added that an inquiry was initiated against the former first couple on the instructions of the NAB chairman on August 1, 2022.
"[The] PTI founder and Bushra have misused their powers. [The] PTI founder retained 58 out of 108 gifts during his prime ministership," read the reference.
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