Former First Lady Bushra Bibi surrendered before the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Saturday in connection with 23 cases registered against her regarding the May 9 attack.
The wife of former Prime Minister Imran Khan appeared before the court alongside her legal team. During the hearing, Bushra Bibi’s counsel, Faisal Malik, filed a bail application for these cases.
It is also noteworthy that an accountability court has reserved its verdict in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust corruption reference against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi.
The prosecution completed its final arguments in the case a day earlier, and the defense concluded its reasoning today. Following this, Accountability Judge Nasir Javed Rana reserved his verdict, which is scheduled to be announced on December 23 (Monday).
In December, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed a corruption reference against Imran and seven others, including his wife, in relation to Al-Qadir University.
The case alleges that Imran and Bushra Bibi received billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd in exchange for legalizing Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to Pakistan by the UK during the previous PTI government.
The reference filed by NAB claims that Imran, who is currently incarcerated, played a “pivotal role in the illicit transfer of funds meant for the state of Pakistan into an account designated for the payment of land by Bahria Town, Karachi.” It also alleges that despite being given multiple opportunities to justify and provide information, the accused deliberately refused to cooperate with the investigation, citing various pretexts.
Property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain, his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, Mirza Shehzad Akbar, and Zulfi Bukhari are also named as suspects in this reference. However, instead of participating in the investigation and subsequent court proceedings, they absconded and were later declared proclaimed offenders (POs).
Farhat Shahzadi, a close friend of Bushra Bibi, and Ziaul Mustafa Nasim, a legal expert from the PTI government’s Assets Recovery Unit, were also declared POs. As a result, the properties of all six accused individuals have been frozen. The couple was indicted in the case in February.
