- Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi’s lawyers fail to appear before court.
- NAB prosecutor accuses defence counsels of using delay tactics.
- Says 16 opportunities provided to cross-examine witness in case.
RAWALPINDI: The hearing on the acquittal pleas filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and wife Bushra Bibi in the £190m case was adjourned on Tuesday by the accountability court till September 12.
The ex-prime minister and former first lady were presented before the court during the hearing today at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail conducted by accountability court Judge Nasir Javed Rana.
Khan on Saturday had filed a plea seeking acquittal in the £190 million case after the Supreme Court’s verdict in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) amendments case wherein the court accepted the intra-court appeals filed against last year’s verdict which struck down the changes made to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).
The couple is accused of causing billions of rupees loss to the national exchequer. Last week, the court had reserved verdict on Bushra’s acquittal plea in the said case.
During the hearing today, Khan and Bushra’s lawyers were not able to appear before the court owing to their commitments in the Lahore High Court (LHC) due to which reference’s last witness Mian Umer Nadeem couldn’t be cross-examined.
Furthermore, assistant counsel Faisal Chaudhry’s request seeking adjournment of the hearing was opposed by the NAB’s prosecution team.
The anti-graft body’s prosecutor said that Khan and Bushra’s counsels were using delay tactics in the case as they have been given 16 opportunities to cross-examine the last witness in the reference.
Noting that 12 affidavits have been submitted by the defence lawyers in this reference, the NAB prosecutor said that since counsels Barrister Ali Zafar and Chaudhry were present at the moment, they should cross-examine the witness.
At this, Chaudhry requested the court for a chance and said that they would cross-examine the witness if the lawyers failed to appear in the next hearing.
£190 million case
As per the charges, Khan and other accused allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion — £190 million at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government as part of the agreement with the property tycoon.
Subsequently, then-prime minister Khan got approval for the settlement with the UK crime agency from his cabinet on December 3, 2019, without disclosing the details of the confidential agreement.
It was decided that the money would be submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon.
According to the NAB officials, Khan and his wife obtained land worth billions of rupees from the property tycoon, to build an educational institute, in return for striking a deal to give legal cover to the property tycoon’s black money received from the UK crime agency.
