Govt approves trial of Imran Khan in jail in NAB cases

By Shahzad Paracha

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has approved the trial of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and others in jail in alleged corruption cases filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the country’s anti-graft watchdog, according to a law ministry notification on Tuesday.

Khan, 70, who is already serving a seven-year sentence in one of the the Toshakhana cases, was arrested on Monday by the NAB in two other cases related to the Toshakhana and the 190-million-pound Al Qadir University Trust.

The law ministry said the accountability court concerned would sit and conduct the trial of Imran Khan and others in Adial jail Rawalpindi for offences under the National Accountability Ordinance 1999.

The notification came after the Islamabad High Court barred a special judge from conducting the hearing of the cypher case, another corruption case against Khan, in the same jail.

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The Toshakhana case involves Khan’s alleged failure to disclose the details of the gifts he retained from the Toshakhana, the treasury where presents given to government officials by foreign dignitaries are kept.

According to the NAB, Khan earned $36 million from selling three watches gifted to him by foreign leaders and never deposited some gifts in the treasury, violating the rule that a prime minister can only keep the gifts after paying a certain amount.

Khan has denied the charges and challenged the arrest warrant issued by a district and sessions court in May, arguing that he obtained the gifts legally and used the proceeds from their sale for public investment and development works.