£190m case: IHC bars trial court from issuing final verdict on Imran's request

• Court orders NAB to submit response to Khan's plea by Wednesday. 
• Justice Hassan warns PTI's counsel against using delaying tactics. 
• IHC allows trial court to continue trial but hold final verdict. 

ISLAMABAD: Approving a request by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) stopped the trial court from announcing the final verdict on the £190 million settlement  case.

A two-member divisional bench, comprising IHC's Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Babar Sattar, on Monday, heard a plea filed by the deposed prime minister, seeking the records for a past National Accountability Bureau (NAB) decision to close the graft case.

The incarcerated PTI chairman is accused of causing billions of rupees loss to the national exchequer in a case also involving a property tycoon.

During the hearing, Khan's counsel Salman Safdar maintained that the proceedings in the reference against the former prime minister are still underway, and the last of the 35 witnesses are under cross-examination. 

He apprised the court that there were eight accused, six of which are absconders and the two are Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi.

As per the allegations in the case, the petitioner of this plea, facilitated the settlement between the government and the property tycoon when he was the prime minister, the counsel added.

Referring to the 190 million pounds received from UK's NCA in 2019,  Safdar contended that NAB maintained in the case that the funds had to be transferred in the government's account but instead they were received in the Supreme Court's bank account and that the Al Qadir Trust is operational instead of a ghost project.

At this, the bench inquired if the trust was registered. Safdar first replied in affirmative but later said he would inform the court after confirmation on the next hearing, upon being told that the trust wasn't registered according to the records available with the court.

The lawyer also informed the court that they had filed a plea in the trial court for the provision of NAB's executive board meeting's record but the trial court turned it down. Moreover, he said that as per the Supreme Court's orders, accountability courts are restricted from issuing final verdicts.

Justice Hassan warned the PTI counsel to refrain from using delaying tactics as it will withdraw the order staying the final verdict and direct the trial court to announce its decision at the earliest.

Later, the IHC directed the trial court to stay the final verdict for now and ordered NAB to submit its response to Khan's plea by Wednesday (August 21). It also stated that the trial of the case will continue in the meantime.

What is £190 million settlement case?

Khan — along with his wife Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders — are facing a NAB inquiry related to a settlement between the PTI government and the property tycoon, which reportedly caused a loss of £190 million to the national exchequer.

As per the charges, Khan and other accused allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion — £190 million at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government as part of the agreement with the property tycoon.

They are also accused of getting undue benefit in the form of over 458 kanals of land at Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa, to establish Al Qadir University.

During the PTI government, the NCA seized assets worth 190 million pounds from the property tycoon in Britain.

The agency said the assets would be passed to the government of Pakistan and the settlement with the Pakistani property tycoon was “a civil matter, and does not represent a finding of guilt”.

Subsequently, then-prime minister Khan got approval for the settlement with the UK crime agency from his cabinet on December 3, 2019, without disclosing the details of the confidential agreement.

It was decided that the money would be submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon.

Subsequently, the Al-Qadir Trust was established in Islamabad a few weeks after the PTI-led government approved the agreement with the property tycoon.

Zulfi Bukhari, Babar Awan, Bushra Bibi, and her close friend Farah Khan were appointed as members of the trust.

Two to three months after the cabinet’s approval, the property tycoon transferred 458 canals of land to Bukhari, a close aide of the PTI chief, which he later transferred to the trust.

Later, Bukhari and Awan opted out as the trustees. That trust is now registered in the name of Khan, Bushra Bibi and Farah.

NAB officials were earlier probing the alleged misuse of powers in the process of recovery of “dirty money” received from the UK crime agency.

Following the emergence of "irrefutable evidence" in the case, the inquiry was converted into an investigation.

According to the NAB officials, Khan and his wife obtained land worth billions of rupees from the property tycoon, to build an educational institute, in return for striking a deal to give legal cover to the property tycoon’s black money received from the UK crime agency.