IHC bars trial court from announcing final verdict in 190m pounds case
Pakistan
PTI founder as PM facilitated transfer of 190m pounds to top court account, says NAB
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News/Web Desk) - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday stopped the trial court from announcing the final verdict in the 190 million pounds case on Imran Khan’s request.
A division bench, comprising Justice Babar Sattar and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, heard the case with objections from the Registrar's Office.
The petitioner's counsel, Barrister Salman Safdar and Khalid Yousuf Chaudhry, appeared before the judges.
The petitioner's lawyers argued, "There have been 35 witnesses in the reference against the PTI founder and the last witness is being questioned. Moreover, the PTI founder was arrested on the IHC premises in the Al-Qadir Trust (190 million pounds) case."
According to the petition, the NAB initially filed a reference against eight accused.
Barrister Salman said that according to NAB, the NCA confiscated 190 million pounds. The allegation, according to the NAB, is that when the petitioner was the prime minister, he facilitated the transfer of 190 million pounds. The amount came to the account of the Supreme Court instead of the State Bank of Pakistan, he argued.
Salman Safdar said they moved the trial court to seek the records of the NAB executive board meeting, but the trial court rejected the request.
The trial judge wrote surprising reasons for it, the counsel apprised the court.
The court issued a notice to NAB and sought reply by Wednesday (tomorrow).
It should be recalled that on Aug 16, former prime minister Imran Khan moved the IHC to stop the trial in the 190 million pounds case.
'NBP GOT MONEY'
It may be recalled that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had on Dec 12, 2019, confirmed that 190 million pounds had been received by the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) on account of a settlement with a property tycoon's family.
This was stated by then SBP deputy governor Jameel Ahmad before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue.
He said “the payment has been received by the National Bank of Pakistan."
A week earlier, then special assistant to the prime minister Shahzad Akbar had said the funds would be transferred to the Supreme Court’s NBP account and the federal government had requested the court to transfer the money to its account for spending on social welfare.
