Pakistan high court temporarily bars trial court from issuing verdict in graft case against Imran Khan and his wife

Islamabad: A high court in Pakistan Monday temporarily barred a trial court from issuing its verdict in an alleged case of corruption against jailed former premier Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi.

An anti-corruption court has been hearing the Al-Qadir Trust case against the former first couple which is based on the charges that Khan caused a loss of over Rs 50 billion to the national exchequer. A two-judge bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), comprising Justices Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb and Babar Sattar, heard Khan's petition requesting the submission of records from the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) previous decision to close the case.

Barrister Salman Safdar, representing Khan, highlighted that the case originally included eight accused, of which six were currently at large.

"A total of 35 witnesses have testified so far, with the cross-examination of the final witness in progress," Safdar informed the court.

After arguments, the bench restrained the trial court from announcing its verdict while allowing it to continue its trial as per schedule.

The case is based on a probe by the NAB into the Al-Qadir University Trust in March 2023, upgrading it to an investigation on April 28. It accused that Khan and his wife acquired substantial sums of money and large tracts of land for the real estate tycoon, Malik Riaz of Bahria Town, in exchange for Rs50 billion.

This amount had been paid as part of a settlement with the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) and was subsequently adjusted against a fine imposed on Riaz by the Supreme Court, instead transferred to the account of the government of Pakistan.