A National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team, comprising of four members, conducted a thorough investigation at Adiala Jail, where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan is currently detained in connection with a £190 million scandal, as per Geo News.
The team, which included Mian Umer Nadim, Asim Munir, and Prosecutors Rooh ul Amin, and Haroon Baloch, spent over two hours scrutinizing the jail premises.
After approximately one and a half hours of investigation, the team concluded its inspection and left the jail premises.
The team will interrogate Khan for three days.
Bail Rejected
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has recently rejected the post-arrest bail petition of former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the cipher case, directing the trial court to conclude proceedings within four weeks.
The case accuses him, along with Imran Khan, of “unauthorisedly” communicating the contents of a classified document received from Washington, with unauthorised people i.e. the public at large.
It is also alleged that Qureshi and Khan had a meeting on March 28, 2022 at Banigala, Islamabad, where a conspiracy was hatched to divulge the contents of the cipher for political advantage.
The Chief Justice observed that the charges against Qureshi are punishable by death, and if proven, bail relief is typically avoided in such grave cases.
Qureshi’s counsel argued that there was no evidence proving that Qureshi divulged classified information to the public. The trial of Qureshi and Imran Khan is currently taking place in Central Jail Adiala, Rawalpindi, as notified on October 3.
However, the counsel argued that the notification did not mention Qureshi’s name.
The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) special prosecutor countered by stating that Qureshi had aided, abetted, and incited Imran Khan, making him liable under Section 9 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923.
The prosecution emphasized that charges had been framed, and three witnesses had already given their evidence.
Justice Farooq observed that under Section 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code, liability of the person, who abets the commission of offence, is that of a principal offender.
The court order stated, “Undoubtedly, bail ought not to be held as punishment but where sentence involved is death or life imprisonment, the court has to proceed with caution; in this regard, the balance is to be maintained that liberty of a person ought not be compromised but gravity of charge or allegation is also to be kept in view.”
Subsequently, the court dismissed the bail petition, but directed the Special Court (Official Secrets Act) “to conclude the trial within four weeks from the date of receipt of this order”.
Toshakhana Case
In a related development, an IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri restored Imran Khan’s petition seeking bail in the Toshakhana case.
Khan’s bail petition was dismissed by the accountability court for non-prosecution.
The court revived the bail petition with a direction to hear Mr Khan’s arguments and decide it on merit.
The bench, however, dismissed Mr Khan’s identical petition seeking bail in the 190 million pounds corruption case for being infructuous as NAB has already arrested the ex-premier in this case.
The cases
The former prime minister is currently being held in Adiala Jail after his arrest from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore on August 5.
He was moved to the prison on September 26 from Attock Jail where he was initially kept after his arrest.
Khan was first convicted by a lower court in the Toshakhana case in August and sentenced to three years of imprisonment. The IHC suspended his sentence the same month.
The Islamabad accountability court issued arrest warrants for PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana and 190 million Al-Qadir Trust cases on Tuesday.
Khan was arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case on May 9 for the first time.
The 190 million (approximately Rs60 billion) settlement case pertains to the money of property tycoon, Malik Riaz, being laundered and caught by the UK authorities during Imran’s government in 2019.
The UK government had informed the Pakistani authorities regarding the money being caught.
The former premier is already in prison as he was subsequently booked in the ‘cipher’ case.
In the cipher case, Khan, along with his close aide and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has been accused of leaking state secrets.
