Verdict in £190mn case to be announced on Jan 13

Islamabad: The Accountability Court Islamabad postponed the verdict in the 190-million-pound scandal case until January 13.

Court staff says that Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana is on leave today and the verdict in the 190-million-pound scandal case will be announced on January 13.

The court staff has also informed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyers about the new date of the verdict.

It is pertinent to note that Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed had reserved the verdict in the 190-million-pound case on December 18.

Earlier, the date for the verdict in the case was set for December 23. However, the court postponed the date for the verdict and set January 6. Now, the date for the verdict in the case has been set for January 13.

Case Background

The jail trial of the 190-million-pound reference has been completed in a year.

This is the only case against the PTI founder whose trial lasted for a year.

NAB arrested the PTI founder in the reference on November 13, 2023 and interrogated him in Adiala Jail for 17 days.

On December 1, 2023, NAB filed the case in the accountability court, after which the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi were interrogated in Adiala Jail.

The court indicted the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi on February 27, 2024.

More than 100 hearings were held in the 190-million-pound reference.

NAB first submitted a list of 59 witnesses to the court, later dropped 24 of them and recorded the statements of 35 witnesses.

Defense lawyer of the PTI founder completed the cross-examination of all 35 witnesses of investigation officer Mian Umar Nadeem after 38 hearings.

Former Principal Secretary Azam Khan, former Chief Minister KP Pervez Khattak, Former Federal Minister Zubaida Jalal, and Chief Financial Officer of Al-Qadir University were among the witnesses in the reference.

The court declared 6 accused including Zulfi Bukhari, Farhat Shahzadi, Mirza Shahzad Akbar, and Zia-ul-Mustafa Naseem as declared accused.

The decision was pronounced to freeze the properties and bank accounts of the declared accused.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had approved the bail of the PTI founder in the 190-million-pound reference. The trial court had approved the pre-arrest bail of Bushra Bibi.

During the trial, the PTI founder submitted a list of 16 judicial witnesses to the court which rejected his request to call judicial witnesses.

Founder PTI had requested the court to present witnesses in his favor. Later, he backed away from the statement of presenting witnesses.

The judges were changed four times in the case. First, Judge Muhammad Bashir heard the reference, then Judge Nasir Javed Rana, after which the reference came under Judge Muhammad Ali Warraich and then again to Judge Nasir Javed.

The PTI founder expressed confidence in Judge Nasir Javed Rana of the Accountability Court twice.

A six-member NAB prosecution team followed the case including Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi, Amjad Pervez, Sohail Arif, Irfan Bhola, and Chaudhry Nazar

Salman Safdar, Usman Riaz Gul, and Zaheer Abbas Chaudhry continued to appear on behalf of the PTI founder.

PTI founder and Bushra Bibi are accused of making a secret agreement with a property tycoon through Shahzad Akbar before transferring 190 million pounds to Pakistan.

The PTI founder used this secret agreement to exert his influence approved by the federal cabinet.

Mirza Shahzad Akbar signed the National Crime Agency confidentiality deed on December 6, 2019.

Bushra Bibi played a key role in the illegal activities of the founder PTI. She helped him by signing the documents of Al-Qadir University as a trustee on March 24, 2021.

The founder PTI facilitated 190 million pounds illegally and dishonestly. The amount was declared as government assets through a secret agreement and the Supreme Court account was used.

The accused acquired 240 kanals of land in Mohra Noor Islamabad through Farhat Shahzadi. They were found involved in corrupt practices.

Founder PTI received illegal financial benefits from a property tycoon during his tenure. He acquired 458 kanals of land for Al-Qadir University from a property tycoon through Zulfi Bukhari.

In April 2019, Al-Qadir University did not exist.