RAWALPINDI: An Accountability Court in Rawalpindi deferred for the third time its verdict in a £190m case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, ARY News reported.
Judge Nasir Javed Rana said that the verdict is deferred due to the absence of the accused Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi. The judge said that he arrived at the court at 8:30 am and sent two summons to Imran Khan to appear before the court; however, Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, failed to appear.
Judge Nasir Javed Rana said that the defence counsel also did not appear in court. Due to the absence of the accused and their lawyers, the court deferred the verdict.
The verdict in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case will now be delivered on January 17, announced Nasir Javed Rana. The judge has left from Adiala Jail after the hearing.
The verdict was initially deferred on December 23, and again on January 6 and the recent development marked the the third delay in the judgment pronouncement.
Accountability court judge Nasir Javed Rana reserved the verdict on December 18 after conducting several hearings at Adiala Jail. The accountability court took almost one year to complete the hearing of the case with prosecution team and defence lawyers completing their arguments.
NCA case
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had launched an investigation against Imran Khan and his wife 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 NAB filed a corruption reference against Imran and seven others, including his wife, in connection with the Al-Qadir University.
The PTI chief registered Trust for Al-Qadir University Project on Dec 26, 2019.
