A Pakistani court on Monday postponed for the third time the announcement of the verdict in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust corruption case against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi.
The anti-corruption court of Islamabad has now fixed January 17 as the new date for delivering the verdict.
According to Geo News report, Anti-Corruption Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana completed the hearing of the case on December 18, but reserved the decision till December 23. Later he fixed a new date of January 6 to pronounce the verdict.
Judge Rana was on leave on January 6, so the main verdict was postponed till January 13.
Today the judge once again postponed the decision till January 17 citing the absence of the accused in the court.
The postponement comes amid ongoing talks between the government and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party to end political instability in the country due to the imprisonment of the former prime minister and several other party leaders.
Two rounds of talks have taken place so far and another round of talks is expected this week. It is not clear whether the decision will impact the next round of talks.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed a case against Khan, 72, Bibi, 50, and six others in December 2023, accusing them of causing a loss of 190 million pounds (PR 50 billion) to the national exchequer.
However, Khan and Bibi were prosecuted because all the others, including a property businessman, were out of the country.
Both Khan and Bibi are accused in the case, which revolves around allegations that $50 billion returned to Pakistan by Britain’s National Crime Agency under a deal with a property tycoon was misused.
The funds were reportedly meant for the national treasury, but were allegedly redirected for the personal benefit of a businessman who helped Bibi and Khan set up a university.
Bibi, as trustee of the Al-Qadir Trust, is accused of benefiting from the deal, which also included the acquisition of 458 kanals of land for Al-Qadir University in Jhelum.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
