The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday stopped the trial court from issuing a final verdict in the £190 million settlement case.
The court gave this verdict on a petition filed on behalf of Imran Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
A two-member divisional bench of the IHC, consisting of Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Babar Sattar, heard the plea filed by the former prime minister. The plea sought records of a previous decision by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to close the corruption case.
Imran Khan, currently incarcerated, is accused of causing a significant loss to the national treasury in a case that also involves a prominent property tycoon.
During the hearing, Khan’s lawyer, Salman Safdar, argued that the proceedings in the reference against the former prime minister are ongoing, with the last of the 35 witnesses still being cross-examined. He informed the court that out of eight accused, six are absconders, while the remaining two are Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi.
The allegations suggest that Khan, as prime minister, facilitated a settlement between the government and the property tycoon. Safdar further claimed that although £190 million was received from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) in 2019, NAB argued that the funds were meant to be deposited in the government’s account but were instead transferred to the Supreme Court’s bank account. He added that the Al-Qadir Trust, rather than being a ghost project, is fully operational.
The bench questioned whether the trust was registered. Safdar initially affirmed but later said he would confirm this in the next hearing after being informed that the trust wasn’t registered according to the court’s records.
The lawyer also mentioned that a plea had been filed in the trial court for the records of NAB’s executive board meeting, but the request was denied. He added that the Supreme Court’s orders restrict accountability courts from issuing final verdicts.
Justice Hassan cautioned Khan’s counsel against using delaying tactics, warning that the court might withdraw its stay order and direct the trial court to announce its decision swiftly.
The IHC then instructed the trial court to hold off on the final verdict and ordered NAB to submit its response to Khan’s plea by Wednesday, August 21. Meanwhile, the trial will continue.
What is Al Qadir Trust Case?
Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, and other PTI leaders are under investigation by NAB in connection with a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon that allegedly caused a £190 million loss to the national exchequer.
The charges suggest that Khan and the other accused adjusted Rs50 billion—equivalent to £190 million at the time—sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government as part of an agreement with the property tycoon. They are also accused of receiving undue benefits, including over 458 kanals of land in Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa, for the establishment of Al-Qadir University.
During the PTI government, the NCA seized assets worth £190 million from the property tycoon in Britain. The agency stated that the assets would be transferred to the Pakistani government as part of a civil settlement, which did not imply any finding of guilt.
On December 3, 2019, then-prime minister Khan secured his cabinet’s approval for the settlement with the UK crime agency without disclosing the confidential agreement’s details. It was decided that the funds would be deposited with the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon.
Shortly after the PTI-led government approved the agreement, the Al-Qadir Trust was established in Islamabad. Zulfi Bukhari, Babar Awan, Bushra Bibi, and her close friend Farah Khan were appointed as trustees.
Two to three months after the cabinet’s approval, the property tycoon transferred 458 kanals of land to Bukhari, a close aide of Khan, who later transferred it to the trust. Bukhari and Awan eventually stepped down as trustees, leaving Khan, Bushra Bibi, and Farah as the trust’s registered members.
NAB officials initially investigated the alleged misuse of power in recovering the “dirty money” received from the UK crime agency. With the emergence of “irrefutable evidence,” the inquiry was upgraded to an investigation.
According to NAB, Khan and his wife received land worth billions of rupees from the property tycoon to build an educational institution in exchange for providing legal cover to the tycoon’s black money recovered by the UK crime agency.
