ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC), Thursday, directed the Accountability Court to decide the 190 million pound case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, on Thursday, heard the petition moved by Imran Khan and BushraBibi, and vacated its earlier stay through which it had barred the AC from issuing its final verdict in it.
During the hearing, NAB Prosecutor Amjad Parvez and lawyer Usman Riaz Gul appeared before the court, while Imran Khan’s counsel Zaheer Abbas advocate read out the charges of the case related to the PTI founder.
Justice Aamer asked the petitioners’ counsels why did they file acquittal plea on this occasion. Abbas replied that they approached the court because the Supreme Court has issued its decision related to the NAB amendments and the NAB amendments had been restored after the decision of the Supreme Court.
The counsel also read out the NAB amendments regarding the protection given to the cabinet decisions.
Justice Miangul Hassan remarked that the reasons of accountability courts are not yet before the court.
Later, the bench directed to send the matter to the accountability court instructing it to decide the pleas.
The PTI founder on September 7 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.
After rejection of their acquittal petition from the accountability court, the former premier and his wife approached the IHC against the accountability court’s ruling, seeking acquittal and pleading with the court to stop the trial court’s proceedings until the case remains pending in the high court.
Earlier, the accountability court had rejected the PTI founder and his wife’s acquittal pleas in the NCA scandal case.
In his petition before the accountability court, Khan, while relying upon the amended NAO, claimed that the case against him was initiated on the basis of a meeting of the federal cabinet and the law has protected the decision taken by the cabinet.
“Despite being fully aware that the case does not fall within the ambit of the NAO, NAB exceeded its jurisdiction and filed a false and frivolous reference, alleging that the applicant, as prime minister of Pakistan, chaired the cabinet meeting held on Dec 3, 2019, during which a deed of confidentiality was approved,” said the petition filed by the PTI founding chairman.
It said that the NAB had accused Khan of misusing his authority for according the said approval and, in return, obtained approximately 458 kanals of land in tehsil Sohawa of Jhelum district, Rs285m in cash, and other benefits under the guise of donations for Al-Qadir University Project Trust.
The petition added that additionally, it is alleged that the applicant and his spouse, through their associate FarhatShehzadi, received 240 kanals of land from co-accused Ahmad Ali Riaz Malik as compensation for personal gain.
“Thus, the accused/applicant, as a public officeholder, is accused of misusing his authority for personal gain for himself and his wife in the form of donations and other benefits,” the petition said.
The NAB prosecution contended that the case is that the ex-PM had misled the cabinet to obtain the approval. The prosecutor said that Khan had concealed the facts from the cabinet members and forced them to approve the confidential deed in a sealed envelope. Subsequently, accountability judge NasirJavedRana had dismissed the petition.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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