Pakistan: Former PM Imran Khan, wife Bushra Bibi sentenced to 14 yrs jail in Toshakhana case

A Pakistani anti-corruption court on Wednesday sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 14 years of imprisonment in the Toshakhana case. The couple have also been barred from holding any public office for a period of 10 years and were levied a fine of PKR 787 million, Pakistani news outlet Dawn reported. 

The verdict in the Toshakhana case comes a day after a Pakistan special court , set up under the Official Secrets Act, sentenced Imran Khan and former Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to 10 years in prison for the breach of state secrets. 

In January this year, Pakistan's anti-corruption court indicted the jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister and his wife in the Toshakhana case against them. The hearing of the case was conducted in Rawalpindi''s Adiala Jail, where Khan has been incarcertated. The case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi was filed by National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan's anti-corruption watchdog. 

The judge already closed the right to cross-examination of the witnesses appearing from the prosecution side and asked Imran Khan and his wife to record their statements under Section 342 (power to examine the accused) of the Pakistani Code of Criminal Procedure, Dawn further reported.

Under this section, a judge can question an accused person "on the case after the witnesses for the prosecution have been examined and before he is called on for his defence." Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi married each other in 2018, months before Khan was elected as the Pakistan prime minister. 

The Toshakhana case pertains to allegations that Imran Khan failed to deposit 19 million pounds or $24,08,06,950 given by the British government. He allowed a property tycoon to use it to partially adjust the said amount against Rs 460 billion fine imposed on the latter by the Supreme Court. 

The allegations surfaced from their misuse of the Toshakhana, the government's treasure house, in which they bought gifts received during their tenure at reduced rates and sold them at higher prices.

The gifts, worth over Rs 140 million, included seven wristwatches, six of which were Rolex, and a Master Graff limited edition watch valued at Rs 85 million. These were reportedly sold in Dubai by Khan's aides.

Apart from Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, property developer Malik Riaz Hussain, his son Riaz Alia, Imran Khan's former aides including Shehzad Akbar and Zulfiqar Bukhari as well as Bibi's friend Farah Gogi and lawyer Zia Mustafa are also co-accused in the case. 

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