Former Pakistan Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were convicted in a corruption case on Friday. Khan was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust land corruption case. Meanwhile, the court awarded Bushra Bibi a seven-year jail term.
Fines of one million and 500,000 Pakistani rupees have also been imposed on Khan and his wife, respectively. The case was filed against Khan, his wife and six others by Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed the case in December 2023. It was alleged that a loss of 50 million Pakistani rupees, which amounts to 190 million pounds, was caused to the exchequer due to the corruption.
As per the Pakistani daily Dawn, the other accused in the case are currently out of the country. The controversy centred around the charges that the former cricketer-turned-politician and his wife received billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd in exchange for legalising Rs 50 billion, which had been identified and returned to Pakistan by the United Kingdom during the previous PTI government, reported The Dawn.
The verdict, initially scheduled for December 23, was postponed due to winter vacations and rescheduled for January 6. However, it was delayed again as Judge Nasir Javed Rana was on leave, and on January 13, the hearing was further delayed because Imran and Bushra failed to appear in the courtroom at Adiala Jail.
Imran Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023 in connection with various legal cases, which he maintains are politically motivated. Last year, he was acquitted in the cipher and Iddat cases but faces new charges in the Toshakhana 2 case.
(With inputs from IANS)
