Why did a Pakistani court indict jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife in a £190 million corruption case?

Another setback for the embattled former prime minister, who is presently serving a jail sentence following many convictions, came when a Pakistani accountability court accused Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the £190 million Al Qadir corruption case.

The session was held in the high-security Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where the 71-year-old founder of Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf, is being held in connection with fraud crimes and the Cipher leak case. Judge Nasir Javed Rana presided over the proceedings, taking over for Judge Mohammad Bashir, who is set to retire in a few weeks.

The case of Al-Qadir Trust concerns the £190 million settlement that the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom handed to Pakistan following its acquisition of the funds from Malik Riaz Hussain, a property magnate in Pakistan.
After the judge read the chargesheet in front of Mr. Khan and his wife, Ms. Bushra, they entered a not guilty plea. On May 9, 2023, Mr. Khan was taken into custody in connection with the same case from the Islamabad High Court’s premises. Protesters across attacked military sites after his detention, setting up violent demonstrations. Later, on May 9, the Supreme Court ruled that his arrest was unlawful.

The alleged purchase of hundreds of canals of land under the name of Al Qadir University Trust, which is said to have cost the exchequer £190 million, prompted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to launch a probe into Mr. Khan, his wife, and other parties in December.

According to a report by Geo News, the court said during the February 27 hearing that the testimony of 58 witnesses will be recorded in the case.As the court framed the allegations against Mr. Khan, she inquired as to his guilt or innocence.”Why should I read the chargesheet when I know what’s written in it?” In response, Mr. Khan said.Mr. Khan and his spouse refuted the accusations made against them.The attorney for Mr. Khan stated that copies of the references must be sent seven days before to the indictment and that these records are crucial to the case.

“We have filed a petition to share the copy of the documents,” he stated.The court also mandated that five NAB witnesses appear at the hearing, postponing it until March 6.The court also granted Mr. Khan’s request to consult a general practitioner and dentist while he was incarcerated for a check-up and medical examination.

In the Toshakhana corruption case, an accountability court last month sentenced the couple to 14 years in prison. Ms. Bushra, 49, is currently incarcerated at Mr. Khan’s Bani Gala mansion in Islamabad. A security convoy carried her to the courtroom. In the Al-Qadir Trust case, it is alleged that Mr. Khan, as Prime Minister, let property mogul Malik Riaz Hussain to use the £190 million to partially satisfy a fine of around PKR 450 billion that the Supreme Court had levied several years prior, rather than putting the money in the national treasury.

In exchange, the businessman is said to have given around 57 acres of land to a trust that Mr. Khan and his wife, Ms. Bushra Bibi, established in order to build the Al-Qadir University in the Punjabi region of Jhelum, specifically in the Sohawa area.

Among the suspects in the case are Mr. Hussain, his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, Mirza Shehzad Akbar, and Zulfi Bukhari. However, rather than cooperating with the inquiry and ensuing legal processes, they fled and were later identified as proclaimed offenders.

A vote of no confidence in Mr. Khan resulted in his removal in April 2022. Since his removal from office, more than 150 charges have been filed against him. Khan is also barred from holding any public office for a ten-year period.