Pakistan(National Times)- ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to challenge the special judge’s verdict rejecting their acquittal petitions in new Toshakhana case. The verdict given by Special Judge Central Shahrukh Arjumand was challenged by the incarcerated former prime minister and his wife in the high court on Monday. The couple made the special judge, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and the state parties in the plea. The petition stated that the judgment of the trial court issued on November 14, 2024, was against the law. The couple also appealed to the IHC to acquit them in the high-profile case. The case pertains to an alleged illegal sale of a jewellery set gifted to Bushra by the Saudi crown prince when her husband Khan was the prime minister of the country from 2018 to 2022. It is worth mentioning here that Islamabad’s special court had indicted the couple in the case last month after rejecting acquittal pleas. In October, the former first lady, after spending months behind bars, was finally released after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) approved her post-arrest bail plea in the state depository case. In November last year, the IHC approved the bail plea of the PTI founder in the new Toshakhana case. The court accepted Khan’s bail plea against two surety bonds worth Rs1 million each. However, he remained behind bars due to a plethora of cases against him. Khan and the former first lady Bushra Bibi were taken into custody in the case on July 13, 2024, the same day the couple was acquitted in the Iddat case. The case was initially filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). However, in light of NAB Amendments, the FIA took over the case and filed its challan in September 2024. However, it is not to be mixed with the first Toshakhana case wherein the couple was sentenced to 14 years in prison and was handed down a fine of Rs1.57 billion — Rs787 million each — in January. The couple’s sentence in the first (old) Toshakhana case was suspended by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in April 2024.
Toshakhana 2.0
The reference filed by the NAB was related to a jewellery set gifted to Bushra by the Saudi royal family when her husband Imran was the prime minister of the country from 2018 to 2022. The anti-graft watchdog further alleged that during his term as prime minister, Imran and his wife had received a total of 108 gifts from different heads of state and foreign dignitaries. It alleged that the former first lady received the jewellery set — comprising a ring, bracelet, necklace a pair of earrings — on her visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2021. It said the PTI founder and his wife illegally kept the jewellery set. The reference states that the deputy military secretary briefed the Toshakhana section officer to estimate and declare the price of the jewellery set, which it mentioned, was not deposited in Toshakhana. The jewellery company sold the necklace for €300,000 and earrings for €80,000 on May 25, 2018. The information regarding the price of the bracelet and ring could not be obtained from the company. On May 28, 2021, the price of the jewellery set was estimated at Rs70.56 million; the price of the necklace was Rs50.64 million and the price of the earrings included in the jewellery valued at Rs10.50 million back then. According to the rules, the 50% price of the jewellery set is approximately Rs35.28 million. The national exchequer suffered a loss of approximately Rs35.28 million after the jewellery was undervalued, as per the reference.
