Imran Khan Case to Be Heard Soon, Court Directs Expedited Hearing
In a recent ruling, Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan have ordered that the case involving former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, be scheduled for hearing as soon as possible, in line with the court’s policy of timely justice.
The written judgment noted that the petitioner’s counsel claimed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was deliberately delaying proceedings. The court accepted this plea and directed that the case move forward without unnecessary postponements.
On July 8, Imran Khan’s lawyer, Barrister Salman Safdar, filed a petition requesting the court to fast-track the hearing of their applications seeking suspension of the couple’s sentences.
Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were convicted on January 17, 2025, in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case, with Khan receiving a 14-year prison term and Bushra Bibi seven years. Appeals were filed ten days later, on January 27, and the first hearing on their requests for sentence suspension was held on May 15. The petitions argued that NAB’s repeated requests for adjournments were intentionally delaying justice.
An Accountability Court in Rawalpindi had earlier sentenced Khan to 14 years and his wife to seven years, with fines of Rs. 1 million and Rs. 500,000 respectively. The court warned that failure to pay these fines would result in additional prison time — six months for Khan and three months for Bushra Bibi. Bushra Bibi was taken into custody from the courtroom.
The court also ordered that Al-Qadir University be taken under government control.
Background: Al-Qadir University Case
The National Accountability Bureau had launched an investigation into alleged corruption linked to Al-Qadir University Trust. The case accused Imran Khan, his wife, and others of improperly acquiring hundreds of canals of land, resulting in an estimated loss of £190 million to the national treasury.
According to the charges, the former prime minister and others allegedly misappropriated Rs50 billion (equivalent to £190 million at the time) sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government. NAB subsequently filed a corruption reference against Imran Khan and seven others, including Bushra Bibi.
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