Islamabad: Pakistan jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, Monday challenged in a high court their conviction in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
An accountability court in Islamabad convicted the former first couple in the high-profile 190 million British Pounds case in a much-anticipated ruling earlier this month.
As already indicated by the party, their lawyers filed an appeal in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the conviction and sentence, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf said in a WhatsApp message.
“Legal Team representing Imran Khan & Bushra BiBi challenges Al-Qadir Trust case decision at IHC,” the party said, adding that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) “maliciously misused its authority by announcing the sentence, with an incomplete investigation”.
It further stated that the decision to approach the high court was taken to annul the decision and order the acquittal of the former first couple.
Judge Nasir Javed Rana of the anti-corruption court announced the reserved verdict January 17, convicting Khan and his wife Bibi guilty of corruption in the case and sentencing them to 14 and seven years respectively in prison.
The NAB, the top anti-corruption body, in December 2023 had filed the case against Khan, Bibi and six others, accusing them of causing a loss to the tune of Rs 50 billion to the national kitty.
However, only the former first couple has been prosecuted as all others, including a property tycoon, were out of the country.
The case was based on the charge that an amount of Rs 50 billion (190 million pounds), returned to Pakistan by the UK’s National Crime Agency as part of a settlement with a property tycoon was misused.
The funds were reportedly intended for the national treasury but were allegedly redirected for the personal benefit of the businessman who helped Bibi and Khan to set up a university.
Bibi, as a trustee of the Al-Qadir Trust, was accused of benefiting from this settlement, including acquiring 458 kanals of land for Al-Qadir University in Jhelum.
PTI
