PTI founder, Bushra Bibi declared offenders in £190mn case

Rawalpindi: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and her wife Bushra Bibi have been declared offenders in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case on Friday.

PTI founder has been sentenced for 14 years and a fine of Rs1 million. While Bushra Bibi has been sentenced for seven years and a fine of Rs0.5 million.

According to the details, Accountability Court judge Nasir Javed Rana pronounced the verdict in the presence of PTI founder and former first lady Bushra Bibi in Adiala Jail. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team and the lawyers are also present in the courtroom.

The judge said in his decision that if the PTI founder would not pay the fine, he would be sentenced to another six months in prison, and if Bushra Bibi did not pay the fine, she would have to spend another three months in jail.

In addition, the court also ordered the government to take Al-Qadir Trust University into custody. After the judge pronounced the verdict, Bushra Bibi was arrested from the courtroom and Judge Nasir Javed Rana left the court.

On this occasion, strict security arrangements have been made inside and outside Adiala Jail. In addition to female police officers, plainclothes officers have also been deployed to maintain public order.

It is pertinent to note that court had reserved the verdict in the 190 million pound case on December 18, 2024, and had set December 23 as the date for delivering the verdict. However, the verdict in the case could not be delivered on December 23 and the second date for delivering the verdict was set for January 6, 2025. Then the date of January 6 was also postponed and the date of January 13 was set, but the verdict in the case could not be delivered on that day either and then the court set the date of the case for January 17.