Accountability court rejects Imran Khan’s acquittal plea in £190m case

RAWALPINDI: An accountability court on Thursday turned down Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s acquittal plea in the case pertaining to £190 million.

After hearing arguments of both the litigants in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, the court dismissed the acquittal petition and fixed the date for interrogation from the investigation officer, the last witness in the reference, for tomorrow (September 13).

The accountability court on September 10 had adjourned hearing of the plea seeking exoneration of the incarcerated former prime minister along his wife in the case till today.

Previously, Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi had appeared before the court during the hearing conducted by accountability court Judge Nasir Javed Rana at Rawalpindi's Adiala jail.

The PTI founder on September 7 had filed a plea seeking acquittal in the £190 million case after the Supreme Court's verdict in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) amendments case wherein the court accepted the intra-court appeals filed against last year's verdict which struck down the changes made to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).

The couple is accused of causing billions of rupees loss to the national exchequer. Last week, the court had reserved verdict on Bushra's acquittal plea in the said case.

Later during the hearing, Khan and Bushra's lawyers did not appear before the court owing to their commitments in the Lahore High Court (LHC) due to which the reference's last witness Mian Umer Nadeem — who is also an investigating officer — couldn't be cross-examined.

Furthermore, assistant counsel Faisal Chaudhry's request seeking adjournment of the hearing was opposed by the NAB's prosecution team.

The anti-graft body's prosecutor had said that Khan and Bushra's counsels were using delay tactics in the case as they have been given 16 opportunities to cross-examine the last witness in the reference.

Noting that 12 affidavits have been submitted by the defence lawyers in this reference, the NAB prosecutor had said that since counsels Barrister Ali Zafar and Chaudhry were present at the moment, they should cross-examine the witness.

At this, Chaudhry had requested the court for a chance and said that they would cross-examine the witness if the lawyers failed to appear in the next hearing.

£190 million case

As per the charges of the case, Khan and other accused allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion — £190 million at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government as part of the agreement with a property tycoon.

Subsequently, then-prime minister Khan had got approval for the settlement with the UK crime agency from his cabinet on December 3, 2019, without disclosing the details of the confidential agreement.

It was decided that the money would be submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon.

According to the NAB officials, Khan and his wife obtained land worth billions of rupees from the property tycoon, to build an educational institute, in return for striking a deal to give legal cover to the property tycoon’s black money received from the UK crime agency.