Islamabad:
The High Court of Islamabad (IHC) sent opinions to the accusation-the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)-concerning the acquittal requests filed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana-II case and asked for an answer.
An IHC court including Judge Inaam Ameen Minhas examined Tuesday the couple’s requests asking for their acquittal in an alleged abusive use of the rules of the state gift benchmark – Toshakhana – to obtain a valuable set of Bulgari jewelry presented as a gift by the Saudi royal family during Imran’s mandate as Prime Minister.
Presenting arguments, Imran’s lawyer Salman Safdar said that a Toshakhana affair was also formulated before and that the Toshakhana-II trial was now in its final phase.
“In the Toshakhana-I case, my client was found guilty, but a court in the IHC division suspended this sentence. The Toshakhana-II affair was based on the same Bulgari watch-if it exists, tell us,” he said.
Accusing the authorities of resorting to the political victimization of its customers, he said that in addition to the case of the figure, my client had also been sentenced in the Toshakhana-I case. After Bushra Bibi was acquitted in the Iddat case, she was again arrested at door n ° 5 of Adiala prison, he added.
He said that there was practically no agency in Islamabad, which had not investigated the Toshakhana affair, adding that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) opened the investigation, then the FIA had taken over and launched its own investigation.
When the court asked if the case also involved a misappropriation of power, Safdar replied that everything was recorded in the file. “Judge Miangul [Hassan Aurangzeb, then an IHC judge] “I granted a bail to the two accused in this case,” he added. The court ordered Safdar to submit copies of all the judicial orders concerned.
SAFDAR informed the court that 19 witnesses had so far registered their declarations before the court in charge of the trial in the Toshakhana-II case. “There are a total of 35 witnesses. We are tired of hearing Toshakhana speaking and still,” he added.
Safdar urged the court to prevent the court of first instance from rendering its final judgment. The court postponed the hearing, declaring that he would examine the question. A written order would be issued later.
According to the indictment, Imran Khan abused his position as Prime Minister to acquire a Bulgari jewelry set that the Saudi crown prince offered as a gift during the couple’s visit to Saudi Arabia between May 7 and 10, 2021.
The whole included a ring, a bracelet, a necklace and a pair of earrings. According to the evidence collected during the investigation, Imran and Bushra have illegally kept the whole.
On May 18, 2021, the deputy military secretary informed the Toshakhana section officer of the need to assess and declare the price of the gift, but the latter was not deposited.
Bulgari sold the necklace for 300,000 euros and earrings for 80,000 euros to a Saudi franchise on May 25, 2018.
