Toshakhana case: IHC suspends Imran, Bushra Bibi’s sentence

Updated 01 Apr, 2024

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended on Monday the 14-year sentence handed out to former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana reference.

In January this year, accountability court Judge Muhammad Bashir sentenced the duo to 14 years in jail with rigorous punishment in the Toshakhana case.

The accountability court also disqualified Imran for 10 years while handing a fine of Rs787 million each.

Following the verdict, Bushra arrived at Adiala Jail to surrender to the authorities. She was taken into custody by NAB.

Established in 1974, the Tosha­khana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.

Background

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed a reference against Imran and his wife, saying that as former prime minister, Imran was presented with 108 gifted state assets, out of the same, 58 gifted state assets were retained by him.

He did not deposit the gifted state assets in Toshakhana for fair price assessment in contravention of rules and subsequently retained said gifted state items worth millions of rupees, NAB said.

The gifted state assets were retained without fair price assessment, NAB said, adding that, Imran sold/misappropriated some of the gifted state assets for personal benefit.

The NAB said investigation proceedings further revealed that Bushra being the wife of ex-PM, received gifts from foreign dignitaries amounting to millions of rupees and retained these gifts against a meager retention cost based on under value assessment/appraisement.

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