Verdict in £190m Al-Qadir Trust case deferred once again by accountability court

ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court on Monday deferred the announcement of its reserved verdict of the Al-Qadir Trust case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi for the third time, and now the judgement will be announced on January 17.

The Accountability Court Judge, JavedRana, was expected to announce the judgement of the Al-Qadir Trust case in the makeshift courtroom at Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, but postponed it again and fixed January 17 for the announcement.

The judge remarked that neither the accused [Khan and his wife] nor their lawyers appeared before the court. The judgement signed by me is ready, and is with me, he said, adding that it was in the knowledge of Khan’s wife that judgment would be announced today, but she did not appear before it.

The judge said that he had been present in the courtroom since 8:30 am, but the accused and their lawyer did not appear before the court. He said many chances had been given to the accused during the trial. Khan did not appear before the court despite sending two messages to him, he said.

He said that on January 6 he was in training, due to which judgement was not announced. The court postponed the announcement of the judgment till January 17.

The same court on December 18 reserved its verdict on the Al-Qadir Trust case following the prosecution and defence completing their final arguments and fixed December 23 for the announcement of the judgment.

The court, on December 23, hearing the case at the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC), instead of Adiala Jail, did not announce the judgment and fixed January 6 for the announcement of its reserved judgement. On January 6, the court staff informed the defence counsel the judge was on leave and the verdict would be announced on January 23.

The same court on February 27 indicted Khan and his wife in the same case.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), on December 1, 2023, had filed an Al-Qadir Trust case reference against Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, and six others in the Accountability Court.

PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, talking to the reporters outside Adiala Jail, said that we were informed that the judgement would be announced today.

The judge, on his own desire, deferred the announcement of the verdict, and the postponement was not the result of any “deal”.

He said that the Al-Qadir Trust case was politically motivated and was aimed to pressurise Khan. “Khan Sahib will not back down, and he will keep fighting for the people, the judiciary, and the Constitution,” he said.

The PTI chairman said that Khan has urged that the Al-Qadir Trust case’s verdict should be pronounced. Khan is in jail, and Bushra Bibi is on her way to Adiala jail to attend the hearing.

Bushra Bibi reportedly reached Adiala jail after 11:00 am and did not enter the jail and return from there after knowing about the postponement of the announcement of judgment.

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said that our negotiation process is still continuing, and he came to know that the third meeting of PTI’s negotiation committee and government team will held on January 15. “If anyone wants to create an impression that the decision of the Al-Qadir Trust case was deferred due to negotiation, then that is completely wrong,” he said, adding that we will not make any deal.

He said that PTI founding chairman Khan has already cleared his position that he will face his cases in court and would prove his innocence. “The only objective of continuing negotiations is to ensure that there is democracy in the country and the dialogue has no other purpose,” he said, adding that we do not want any relief for anyone.

Raja said that negotiation and this case have no relation with each other.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025