Skip to main content

Pak Court Indicts Imran Khan, Wife In 190 Million Pounds Corruption Case

An accountability court in Pakistan on Tuesday indicted jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the 190 million pounds Al Qadir corruption case.

Judge Nasir Javed Rana conducted the hearing at Rawalpindi's high-security Adiala jail where the 72-year-old Pakistan-Tehreek-Insaf founder is currently incarcerated in multiple cases.

The judge read the chargesheet in Khan and Bushra's presence in the courtroom.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had initiated an investigation against Khan, his wife, and others regarding the alleged acquisition of hundreds of canals of land under the name of Al Qadir University Trust, resulting in a reported loss of 190 million pounds to the exchequer.

During the hearing, the court said that statements of 58 witnesses will be recorded in the case, Geo News reported.

The judge asked Khan if he was guilty or not while framing charges against him.

"Why should I read the charge sheet when I know what's written in it?" Khan replied.

Both Khan and his wife then denied the charges against them.

The hearing was adjourned till March 6 and the court also ordered five witnesses of NAB to attend the hearing.

Bushra, 49, is imprisoned at Khan's Bani Gala residence in Islamabad after an accountability court sentenced the couple to 14 years in jail in the Toshakhana corruption case.

The Al-Qadir Trust case pertains to the settlement of 190 million pounds, which the UK's National Crime Agency sent to Pakistan after recovering the amount from Pakistani property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain.

Being the prime minister then, Khan, instead of depositing the money in the national treasury, allowed the businessman to use the amount to partly settle a fine of about Rs 450 billion imposed by the Supreme Court some years ago.

The tycoon, in return, allegedly gifted about 57 acres of land to a trust set up by Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to establish the Al-Qadir University in the Sohawa area of the Jhelum district of Punjab.

Hussain, his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, Mirza Shehzad Akbar, and Zulfi Bukhari are also among the suspects in the case, but instead of joining the investigation and subsequent court proceedings, they absconded and were subsequently declared as proclaimed offenders. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)



from NDTV News-World-news https://ift.tt/Oj7iK6y

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sri Lanka Must Achieve Debt Restructuring By September: IMF

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday reaffirmed that Sri Lanka must achieve its debt restructuring process by September, which is also the time for the global lender's formal review of the bailout facility it extended to the cash-strapped nation. On March 20, IMF extended a nearly $3 billion bailout facility to debt-ridden Sri Lanka that would help stabilise the country's economy after it was jolted by a devastating economic crisis last year. In a statement issued on Tuesday at the end of a nearly two weeks staff visit to Colombo to assess the progress made by Sri Lanka since the agreement was reached, the IMF said the two sides had discussed the developments on debt restructuring. "Sri Lanka must achieve debt restructuring by its first review due in September. We also discussed progress on debt restructuring, noting the ongoing discussions with both foreign and domestic creditors," the statement read. Sri Lanka is still struggling to normalise its crisis-hi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Biden Warns "All Out War" Possible In Middle East

US President Joe Biden warned Wednesday of the possibility of an "all-out war" in the Middle East but said he was hopeful a settlement was still achievable for the conflict-torn region. Biden's comments as he appeared on ABC chat show "The View" came as Israel put troops on alert for possible entry into Lebanon and the war in Gaza grinds on. "An all-out war is possible," Biden said when asked about the situation. "What I think is, also, the opportunity is still in play to have a settlement that could fundamentally change the whole region." Biden appeared to raise the possibility of a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israeli strikes targeting the Hezbollah militia have killed more than 600 people this week. "They have a possibility -- I don't want to exaggerate it -- there's a possibility if we can deal with a ceasefire in Lebanon that it can move into dealing with the West Bank as well," said Biden. Israel has been carrying ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Amazon Rainforest Tribe's Secret To Healthy Life And Slow Ageing Revealed

Deep in the Amazon rainforest, a semi-nomadic indigenous community is thriving. This community defies conventional norms on ageing and health. The Tsimanes, consisting of 16,000 people, live a fully subsistence lifestyle, relying on hunting, foraging and farming to survive. Scientists have been studying this unique group for two decades, and have uncovered remarkable findings till now. Martina Canchi Nate, an 84-year-old Tsimanes woman, digs up yucca trees, cuts down plantain trees and carries heavy loads with ease, faster than her younger companions, as per a BBC report. This level of physical activity is not unusual among Tsimanes of her age. Researchers have discovered that this group has the healthiest arteries ever studied and brains that age more slowly than those in North America, Europe and elsewhere. The Tsimanes' secret lies in their active lifestyle, with an average of 16,000 to 17,000 steps per day. They spend less than 10 percent of daylight hours in sedentary activ...
Post a Comment
Read more