Imran Khan's interim bail extended in NCA £190m scandal

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad granted former prime minister Imran Khan bail in the Al-Qadir Trust case till June 19 against surety bonds worth Rs500,000, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The PTI chief arrived at the Federal Judicial Complex after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) directed him to approach a relevant accountability court.

Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir presided over the hearing.

IHC directs Imran to approach accountability court 

Earlier today, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday extended interim bail of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan in the NCA £190m scandal(Al-Qadir Trust corruption case).

Imran Khan appeared before a two-member bench of Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat under strict security.

The former prime minister’s lawyer pleaded with the court to extend the interim bail of Imran Khan until June 8 as his client has to appear before courts in other cases too.

However, the IHC while rejecting the lawyer’s request, extended the interim bail of the former prime minister in the NCA £190m scandal until Monday (June 5) and directed him to appear before the relevant court.

The high court also granted the former prime minister bail in a separate case for 10 days.

Imran Khan’s name put on ECL

The federal government earlier placed former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL) in the £190m NCA scandal.

Former PM’s name was placed on the ECL at the National Accountability Bureau Rawalpindi’s request after approval from the federal cabinet, sources privy to the development said.

Read more: Imran Khan’s name ‘placed’ on ECL in £190m NCA scandal

It was learnt that the NAB also recommended placing Bushra Bibi, the former prime minister’s wife’s name on ECL in the same case for which a letter will be penned to the interior ministry.

NCA £190m scandal

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had launched an investigation against Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi and others for the alleged gain of hundreds of canals of land in the name of Al Qadir University Trust, which reportedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer.

As per the charges, the former prime minister and others accused allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion — 190 million pounds at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the government.

The PTI chief registered Trust for Al-Qadir University Project on Dec 26, 2019.