ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Pakistan on Monday handed over jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to the country’s anti-corruption officials on a seven-day remand for further investigation into a new Toshakhana corruption case.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had requested a 14-day remand after completing the initial eight-day physical remand of the couple. However, the court denied the request and instructed the anti-graft body to bring the couple back to court on July 29.
Following the expiration of their previous eight-day remand, NAB presented the couple before the court and submitted a progress report.
Imran Khan, the 71-year-old former cricketer and politician, has been in custody for nearly a year, facing charges in multiple cases including Toshakhana, cipher, and marriage cases. His wife, Bushra Bibi, has also been detained for several months.
They were arrested in a new Toshakhana case by NAB shortly after a district and sessions court in Islamabad on July 13 overturned their conviction in a case related to their marriage, which was previously the only case holding them in jail. The courts also overturned Imran Khan’s sentences in the Cipher and Toshakhana cases.
Earlier hopes for their release in July were dashed when NAB detained them again on allegations related to the sale of state gifts.
