New Toshakhana reference: Court extends Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi's judicial remand

• Court rejects request to summon old, new Toshakhana references.
• Judge adjourns hearing till Sept 6 after extending couple's remand.
  
• New reference pertains to jewellery set gifted by Saudi crown prince.

RAWALPINDI: An accountability court in Rawalpindi on Monday extended the judicial remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in a new Toshakhana reference.

The accountability court's judge Javed Rana conducted the hearing of the new Toshakhana reference pertaining to a jewellery set gifted by the Saudi crown prince.

The hearing was attended by the couple's lawyers and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor.

The new reference pertains to a case related to a jewellery set gifted to former first lady Bushra by the Saudi crown prince when Imran was the prime minister of the country from 2018 to 2022.

At the outset of the hearing, defence lawyer Salman Safdar argued that the new reference was similar to the previous one, therefore, two separate references could not be filed in the same accusation.

To this, the prosecutor said that the defence lawyer's claims could only be proved after matching the particulars of both references.

The prosecutor also requested the court to summon the judicial record of the old Toshakhana reference, however, the plea was rejected.

Later, the judge extended the judicial remand of the former premier and his wife till September 16.

The hearing was adjourned till September 6.

It is noteworthy to mention here that the couple had filed separate post-arrest bail pleas in the new Toshakhana case last week.

Mentioning the state and chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as parties to the case, both the applications filed through Barrister Salman Safdar under Section 9(b) of NA Ordinance 1999 and Section 497 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) request the accountability court to grant post-arrest bail to the couple to in "interest of justice and fair play".

Jewellery set case

The jewellery set — comprising a ring, bracelet, necklace a pair of earrings — was gifted to the former first lady on her visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2021, as per the NAB's reference.

It said the PTI founder and his wife have illegally kept the jewellery set.

It added that the deputy military secretary briefed the Toshakhana section officer to estimate and declare the price of the jewellery set.

The jewellery set, it mentioned, was not deposited in Toshakhana.

The jewellery company sold the necklace for €300,000 and earrings for €80,000 on May 25, 2018. The information regarding the price of the bracelet and ring could not be obtained from the company.

On May 28, 2021, the price of the jewellery set was estimated at Rs70.56 million; the price of the necklace was Rs50.64 million and the price of the earrings included in the jewellery valued at Rs10.50 million back then.

According to the rules, the 50% price of the jewellery set is approximately Rs30.57 million.

The national exchequer suffered a loss of approximately Rs30.28 after the jewellery was undervalued.

As per the reference, the PTI founder and his wife violated the NAB Ordinance. It added that an inquiry was initiated against the former first couple on the instructions of the NAB chairman on August 1, 2022.

“[The] PTI founder and Bushra have misused their powers. [The] PTI founder retained 58 out of 108 gifts during his prime ministership,” read the reference.

The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been in prison for more than a year after he was booked in a plethora of cases, including the Toshakhana case, cipher case, and the un-Islamic marriage case.

Despite securing relief in several cases, the PTI founder remains behind bars after he was booked in the new Toshakhana case and other cases related to the May 9 mayhem.