Former PM of Pakistan, Imran Khan Niazi
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan who is in prison in the Adiala Jail in the cipher case has also been arrested by the country’s top anti-corruption agency the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of Pakistan in the Toshakhana Case and also in the Al-Qadir trust case, media agencies reported on November 14, 2023.
Arrest by NAB
The NAB has arrested Imran Khan on November 13, 2023, after the Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir ratified the arrest warrants and directed the Adiala Jail Superintendent to execute them, a prominent Pakistani media agency reported. Another media organisation reported that “khan was arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust Case also on the same day led by the Assistant Director Muhammad Asif and Waqarul Hassan visited the District Jail (Adiala), Rawalpindi and executed arrest warrants through the Jail Superintendent.
It said that the execution of these arrest warrants meant that Imran Khan, the former Priem Minister of Pakistan, and leader of the Tehreek-e-Insaaf Party was also arrested in the Toshakhana and Al-Qadir Cases. He would be investigated in jail by the NAB team after obtaining his physical remand from the court of law.
During the hearing on November 13, 2023, the judge had earlier asked the NAB prosecutor about thre status of Khan’s pleas to revive bail petitions in the two cases, to which he replied that the pleas were pending in the Islamabad High Court and there was no restraining order issued so far.
Al-Qadir Case
Imran Khan has been lodged in the Adiala Jail for the cipher case, months after his arrests in August. The Al Qadir case is about the settlement of 190 million pounds which the UK National Crime Agency sent to Pakistan after recovering the amount from a Pakistani property tycoon. Imran Khan being the Prime Minister then instead of depositing it in the national kitty allowed the businessman to use the amount to partly settle the fine of Rs 450 billion imposed by the Supreme Court some years ago.
Reportedly in return, the tycoon gifted about the 57 acres of land to a trust set up by Imran Khan and his wife Bushara Bibi to establish the Al-Qadir University in Sohana area of Jhelum district of the Punjab province.
Toshakhana Case
Established in 1974, Toshakhana is a department under the Cabinet Division in Pakistan and its primary function is to store gifts and expensive items received by the public officials. The rules mandate that officials report all the gifts received and send them to the Cabinet Division.
After coming to power in 2018, Imran Khan resisted disclosing the gifts he had received. He cited concerns about potential impacts on international relations as the reason behind his resistance and admitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan that he bought the gifts by paying a percentage of their value and included luxurious items. He was arrested for these corrupt practices and submitting fake details to the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Cipher Case
The Cipher refers to a secret diplomatic cable containing the account of a meeting between the US State Department Officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of the South and Central Affairs Donald Lu and Pakistani envoy Majeed Khan last year. Khan, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan was accused of misusing the cipher content to build a narrative that his government was ousted due to a conspiracy hatched by the US, a charge denied by Washington.
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