A Pakistani court has postponed the verdict announcement in GBP 190 million Al-Qadir Trust corruption case against former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The verdict is now scheduled for January 13, according to Islamabad accountability court staff.
The delay was attributed to Judge Nasir Javed Rana’s leave, the court staff said. Both the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder’s lawyers have been informed about the postponement. This marks the second delay in the case. The verdict, initially reserved on December 18, was first scheduled for December 23
What is the case?
The case alleges that Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, received land and billions of rupees from Bahria Town. In exchange, they allegedly legalized £190 million returned to Pakistan by the UK during Khan’s tenure in office.
In December 2023, the NAB filed a corruption reference against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder, Bushra Bibi, and several others. The investigation focused on the alleged acquisition of hundreds of acres of land for the Al-Qadir University Trust, which reportedly caused a GBP 190 million loss to the national treasury.
The charges state that Imran Khan and other accused individuals misappropriated PKR 50 billion (equivalent to GBP 190 million at the time), transferred by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government, ARY News reported.
As part of the investigation, NAB filed a corruption reference against Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, and six others in connection with the Al-Qadir University project, which was initially registered on December 26, 2019.
‘Imran Khan broke all records’
Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif recently reiterated the corruption allegations against Khan in this case. “There has been a lot of corruption in the last 75 years, but Imran Khan broke all records,” Asif said, further alleging that Khan and his associates were heavily involved in corrupt activities.
