An accountability court on Monday postponed the verdict reserved earlier in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust corruption reference  against former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi. The court had reserved the verdict on December 18, saying that it would be announced on December 23. However, while presiding over the hearing on Monday, Accountability Judge Nasir Javed Rana said, “The verdict will not be announced today; vacations are coming and there is also a course at the high court.” He stated that the new date for the verdict’s pronouncement would be issued soon.

Imran and Bushra were indicted in the case on February 27, shortly after the general elections. The case alleges that Imran and Bushra Bibi obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government. In December, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a corruption reference against Imran and seven others, including his wife, in connection with the Al-Qadir University.

The reference filed by NAB alleged that Imran, who is currently in jail, played a “pivotal role in the illicit transfer of funds meant for the state of Pakistan into an account designated for the payment of land by Bahria Town, Karachi”.  It also claimed that despite being given multiple opportunities to justify and provide information, the accused deliberately, with mala fide intention, refused to give information on one pretext or another.

Property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain and his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, Mirza Shehzad Akbar, and Zulfi Buk­hari are also among the suspects in this reference, but instead of joining the investigation and subsequent court proceedings, they absconded and were subsequently dec­lared proclaimed offenders (PO). Farhat Shahzadi, a close friend of Imran’s spouse, and Ziaul Mustafa Nasim, a legal expert for the PTI government’s Assets Recovery Unit, were also declared POs. Subsequently, the properties of all six accused had been frozen.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)