Imran Khan moves Supreme Court for bail in Al-Qadir Trust corruption case

Islamabad: Imran Khan has moved the Supreme Court for bail in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case in which Pakistan's jailed former prime minister and his wife are accused of receiving land worth billions of rupees as a bribe from a real estate tycoon, according to a media report.

Khan, 71, who has been incarcerated in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since September 26 in various cases, Friday moved the apex court following rejection of his plea by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on November 14.

According to The Express Tribune newspaper, Khan in the bail application alleged that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), while acting as a tool of the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government, used the case to harass him on political grounds.

In the appeal, the Supreme Court was requested to annul the IHC decision of November 14 and the decision of the accountability court on August 10 on his arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

The Ali-Qadir Trust case is about the settlement of 190 million pounds, about Rs 50 billion, which the UK’s National Crime Agency sent to Pakistan after recovering the amount from a Pakistani property tycoon.

Khan, being the prime minister then, instead of depositing in the national treasury, allowed the businessman to use the amount to partly settle a fine of about Rs 450 billion imposed by the Supreme Court some years ago.

Reportedly, the tycoon, in return, gifted about 57 acres of land to a trust set up by Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to establish the Al-Qadir University in the Sohawa area of the Jhelum district of Punjab.

Separately, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief’s petition for an early decision on a request for withdrawal of his appeal against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to disqualify him in the Toshakhana case following his conviction in the case in August. Later, his conviction in the case was suspended.

That case was filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan for hiding the proceeds of sale from the gifts he got from the Toshakhana, a repository for presents given to government officials by foreign officials, during his tenure as the prime minister.

The court said that many cases were going on simultaneously, assuring the PTI’s lawyer that the matter would be decided next week.

Khan wanted to withdraw his appeal to the IHC and take it to the Lahore High Court (LHC), the paper said.