ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani accountability court on Monday postponed for a third time the announcement of a long-awaited verdict in a case in which former Prime Minister Imran Khan is accused of receiving land as a bribe by misusing his office during his premiership, with his party saying the deferral was not part of a “political deal.”
The announcement of the verdict in the Al-Qadir Trust case has already been postponed twice before, drawing criticism from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The case involves a charitable trust set up by Khan and his third wife Bushra Khan in 2018 when he was still in office.
Pakistani authorities say the trust was a front for the couple to receive valuable land as a bribe from a real estate developer, Malik Riaz Hussain, who is one of Pakistan’s richest and most powerful businessmen. Hussain, like Khan and Bushra, denies any wrongdoing.
“The trial court has postponed the decision of Al-Qadir Trust Case for the third time,” Khan’s PTI party said in a message to reporters. “It’s now postponed till January 17th.”
The party called the postponement “unusual” and said it “just re-affirms perception that it’s all linked to timing of political developments.”
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the verdict in the case was expected on Monday, but Khan did not show up at the court, accusing the former premier of using “delaying tactics” in the case.
“You would remember a time, when it was said [by Khan] that ‘I am sick, there is an issue with my leg, I cannot come, I cannot appear [before the court],” Tarar said, referring to statements by Khan and his lawyers in corruption cases against him relating to a state repository.
“I believe the PTI founder has had a PhD on the tradition of using delaying tactics in court cases. The person who is clean, who knows he is innocent never seeks an extension in [hearing of a case], never changes his attorney, never changes the power of attorney.”
Senator Talal Chaudhry, member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, said the Al-Qadir Trust case was an “open-and-shut case” and there was no possibility of a deal in it.
“Whether the decision is made today or tomorrow, it is a clear verdict, [this is] an open-and-shut case,” he said. “This is about Pakistan and there is no possibility of a pardon.”
Khan’s party has previously said the delay in announcing the verdict raised questions on the merits of the trial.
“This is a nasty, baseless case,” Gohar Ali Khan, the chairman of the PTI and one of Khan’s lawyers, told reporters after Monday’s hearing. “If this was based on justice then Khan would have been honorably acquitted today definitely, but when decisions are based on political considerations or to put pressure, then everyone can see the writing on the wall.”
He said the postponement of the verdict had nothing to do with the PTI.
“We came prepared that the verdict would be released today but the judge has postponed it of his own accord … it is not the result of any deal,” Gohar added.
Authorities say the Al-Qadir Trust scheme originated with 190 million pounds repatriated to Pakistan in 2019 by Britain after Hussain forfeited cash and assets to settle a British probe into whether they were proceeds of crime. Instead of putting it in Pakistan’s treasury, Khan’s government is accused of using the money to pay fines levied by a court against Hussain for illegal acquisition of government lands at below-market value for development in Karachi.
Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023 and faces a slew of legal cases, says all charges against him are politically motivated and being backed by his political rivals led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country’s all-powerful military. Both deny the allegations.
