LAHORE: A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday granted protective bail to former first lady Bushra Bibi till May 23 in an inquiry of the Al Qadir Trust initiated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)
Imran Khan was also arrested in the same case but later his arrest was declared unlawful by the apex court after which he was granted bail in the case till May 17 by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Imran also accompanied his wife to the hearing today. Security guards held up a protective white sheet to cover the husband-wife duo as they arrived for the hearing.
Earlier, the bench expressed disappointment over the delay caused by Bushra Bibi for appearing before the court.
The bench warned the petitioner’s counsel, to be careful and keep the sanctity of the court intact.
The bench when asked about the petitioner, he expressed his excuse and said the petitioner will be appearing in a little span of time. The bench at this, termed it inappropriate to make the court wait and added, “Such behaviour won’t be tolerated”.
Giving time for her appearance before the court till 2:15 pm, the bench said, “We will dismiss the plea if she would appear late and rose for a bit.”
However, the petitioner appeared before the court late as her petition was called for hearing thrice. Bushra’s counsel, however, assured the bench that the petitioner would appear at the right time in future.
The counsel asked the bench to grant the bail for ten days at least so the petitioner could easily approach the trial court for pre-arrest bail.
He said the inquiry launched by the NAB was unlawful and there was a possibility of the petitioner’s arrest.
The bench, after hearing Bushra Bibi’s counsel at length, granted her protective bail till May 23.
NAB alleged that during his tenure as Prime Minister Imran and his wife obtained billions of rupees and land measuring hundreds of kanals from Malik Riaz of Behria Town in return to Rs 50 billion that he paid as a settlement with National Crime Agency (NCA) of United Kingdom and the same was adjusted in lieu of a fine imposed on him by the Supreme Court.
After an alleged audio leak in June 2022, purportedly of a telephone conversation between Malik Riaz and his daughter, the PML-N began accusing the ex-premier and his wife of some alleged favour to Malik Riaz.
Following the leak, Riaz had denied his role in any political matters, and in a tweet claimed that the audio clip attributed to him and his daughter was “fabricated”.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah later accused Imran and his wife of accepting billions of rupees and hundreds of kanals of land for protecting Malik Riaz’s real estate firm in a money laundering case.
It all started five years ago when the NCA agreed to a settlement worth £190 million with the family of property tycoon Malik Riaz.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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