ISLAMABAD: An Accountability Court, on Friday, extended the physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former premier Imran Khan in jail in the £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) scam commonly known as the Al-Qadir Trust case till November 21 with the direction that Khan will remain in prison and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials will investigate him in jail.
Accountability Court judge Muhammad Bashir, while hearing the case, approved NAB’s plea to extend Khan’s remand till Monday next. The court ordered that Investigating Officer (IO) Mian Umar Nadeem, Asim Munir, case officer, and prosecutors be allowed to interrogate the accused for three days in jail premises.
PTI chief’s counsel Sardar Latif Khosa and others as well as Deputy Prosecutor General NAB Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi, Prosecutor Irfan Bhola, and investigative officers, Mohsin, Waqarul Hassan, and Mian Umar Nadeem appeared in court. Khan also produced before the court.
At the start of the hearing, Abbasi requested the court to extend the remand of the accused in order to further interrogate and confront him with available records. He told the court that during the previous remand, the investigators only availed two days, therefore, appropriate time was granted to probe the accused.
Khan’s counsel, while objecting to the prosecution’s request, said that his client has several times appeared before the court and NAB questioned him for hours, therefore, there is no need for further investigation.
Talking to reporters after the hearing, Khosa said that the bureau had closed this case in 2020 at complaint verification state. However, the NAB prosecutor said during the hearing, NAB can reopen an inquiry or investigation at any stage, he said, the judge told NAB officials that they cannot shift Khan from jail and probe him inside the jail till Monday.
He said that he told the court that £190 million was transferred to the Supreme Court’s designated accounts following the consensus decision of the federal cabinet after it was detected by the UK’s NCA.
The account was maintained for depositing the liability of Bahria Town Ltd Karachi (BTLK). There is no allegation of corruption of a single penny and financial gain, he said, adding that not a single penny was transferred into the accounts of Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi.
Khosa said that there is an allegation that Malik Riaz donated land to Al-Qadir Trust University. The land was given to the trust for the construction of the university, he said, adding that it is written in the trust deed that neither the trustee nor his relative can get any benefit from the trust. He said that it is also written in the trust deed that the trustee cannot take a salary from the trust.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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