Court grants Imran last chance to appoint lawyer in new Toshakhana case

• FIA court adjourns hearing of the case till November 2.

• Court grants PTI founder permission for consultation.
• Bushra Bibi granted exemption from appearance.
  

RAWALPINDI: An anti-corruption court on Tuesday granted former Prime Minister Imran Khan a final opportunity to appoint a lawyer to represent him and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in the new Toshakhana case.

Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing of the case till November 2 after, contrary to expectation, an indictment of the suspects could not take place.

The couple is accused of misusing power to acquire state gifts.

Hearing of the case was conducted by Special Judge (Central) Shahrukh Arjumand at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.

Prosecutors Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi and Umair Majeed on this occasion represented the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Upon the incarcerated PTI founder’s seeking time for consultation with his legal team to fix a lawyer, the court granted him permission in this regard till October 31.

“I have not been given time for consultation and meeting with lawyers for three weeks,” Imran said, giving names of four lawyers for consultation in jail — Barrister Ali Zafar, Barrister Gohar Khan, Barrister Salman Akram Raja and Barrister Salman Safdar.

The court warned that it would appoint a public attorney if a lawyer was not appointed on the next hearing.

On the other hand, a plea was filed seeking exemption of Bushra from today’s hearing, which saw the court’s assent despite the prosecutor’s opposition to it. The court directed her to appear at the next hearing.

FIA prosecutor Umair objected that even Bushra's signature was not there on the petition, seeking an exemption from appearance.

"Getting bail does not mean that the accused will not appear before the court for trial. The court had set today's date for indictment," he said, pleading the court to conduct the trial of the Toshakhana case daily.

The couple, already imprisoned at the Adiala facility, was arrested in a new National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference related to Toshakhana gifts on July 13.

The arrest came hours after Khan and Bushra were expected to be released from jail after being acquitted by a district and sessions court of Islamabad in the iddat case — also known as the un-Islamic nikah case.

A team of the anti-corruption watchdog headed by Deputy Director Mohsin Haroon had arrested the couple in the Adiala jail in the new reference on the allegations of "misuse of power for acquiring Toshakhana gifts," the sources had said.

It may be noted that the former first lady is currently in Peshawar. She was released from jail earlier this month after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) approved her bail plea against surety bonds worth Rs1 million.

New Toshakhana case

The reference filed by the NAB involves a case related to a jewellery set gifted to Bushra by the Saudi crown prince when her husband Imran was the prime minister of the country from 2018 to 2022.

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

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

The reference states that the deputy military secretary briefed the Toshakhana section officer to estimate and declare the price of the jewellery set, which 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.

"PTI founder and Bushra Bibi have misused their powers. PTI founder retained 58 out of 108 gifts during his premiership," read the reference.