Indictment of Imran, wife deferred again in Al-Qadir case

ISLAMABAD: The accountability court once again deferred the indictment of Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the £190 million case on Tuesday. The indictment was deferred without any proceedings until February 23.

The accountability court judge had to conduct a hearing of the case at Adiala Jail. However, the newly-appointed judge, Nasir Javed Rana, has yet to take charge at his new place of posting.

It may be recalled that in previous hearings, Judge Muhammad Bashir was not available, so the indictment was postponed. A new judge was appointed in place of Judge Muhammad Bashir, who has applied for long leave until his retirement.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had launched an investigation against Imran Khan and his wife and others for the alleged gain of hundreds of canals of land in the name of Al-Qadir University Trust, which reportedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer.

As per the charges, the former prime minister and others accused allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion, 190 million pounds at the time, sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the government. The PTI chief registered the trust for the Al-Qadir University Project on December 26, 2019.