RAWALPINDI: An accountability court in Rawalpindi on Tuesday granted pre-arrest bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s wife and former first lady Bushra Bibi in the £190 million reference.
In May a two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri had approved Khan’s bail plea in the same case in May.
The former prime minister, his wife Bushra and other PTI leaders, are facing an inquiry of the National Accountability Court (NAB) related to a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon, which reportedly caused a loss of £190 million to the national exchequer.
The couple, however, is behind bars in the iddat case and is unlikely to be released after a district and sessions court rejected their pleas seeking suspension of the sentences in the said case.
During the hearing, the NAB presented three more witnesses in the case who were cross-examined by the defence lawyers. So far, statements of 30 witnesses have been recorded in the case, out of which, 27 have gone through cross-examination.
The NAB counsels also apprised the court that the arrest warrant for Bushra Bibi has not been issued yet. The court then summoned other witnesses in the case and adjourned the hearing till July 5.
The NAB had filed a reference against Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi and others in December 2023 pertaining to the transfer of £190 million from the UK.
In the reference, the NAB Rawalpindi stated that the accused persons in connivance with each other have committed the offence of corruption and corrupt practices punishable under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999.
They are also accused of getting benefits in the form of over 458 kanals of land at Sohawa, to establish Al Qadir University.
