£190m reference: IHC reserves verdict on Imran’s bail plea

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court Tuesday reserved its verdict on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s bail petition in the £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) settlement reference.

A two-member bench, comprising IHC CJ Aamer Farooq, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, reserved the verdict after the completion of arguments. Amjad Parvez, the National Accountability Bureau’s special prosecutor, when presenting his arguments said that the money should have come to the Government of Pakistan.

In its order, the Supreme Court mentioned that the money belonged to the state of Pakistan. “The amount declared by the Supreme Court was wrongly sent to its account.”

Meanwhile, he added, the Asset Recovery Unit told the prime minister that it was their success in securing this money. “According to the documents, the money could not have been transferred without the permission of the National Crime Agency,” Pervez said.

Addressing the NAB special prosecutor, the IHC chief justice asked if the money he referred to was proceeds of crime. Justice Jahangiri, addressing Pervez, remarked: “You don’t have any documentation of this, it’s all verbal talk. You were earlier asked if you have the order of freezing or de-freezing [the accounts]. You said you don’t have any of those documents.”

The NAB lawyer was questioned about evidence of out-of-court settlements by both the judges. “What will you say about the money transferred before the note given to the prime minister?” asked Justice Jahangiri. “This money was transferred after the confidentiality deed,” replied the NAB prosecutor, adding that the PTI founder was the head of the Assets Recovery Unit. It is not written in the confidentiality deed that the money will be deposited in the Supreme Court’s account, remarked Justice Jahangiri.

“This confidentiality deed was a huge fraud,” Pervez responded. The IHC judge then asked how was the deed related to PTI founder. A public servant cannot accept a gift from a person whose case is pending with him, said NAB counsel.

He also added that “458 kanals of land were purchased and transferred to the name of Zulfi Bukhari.” The judge asked who transferred the land. “The land was bought from private people and transferred in the name of Zulfi Bukhari. This happened during Asset Recovery Unit’s correspondence with NCA,” the prosecutor said.

He added that Al-Qadir Trust did not exist when the land was transferred. The chief justice asked when was the trust registered, responding to which the NAB lawyer said that the story of the trust is “very interesting”. “The whole story is interesting, what is not interesting,” said Justice Jahangiri.

Interacting with journalists in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail a day earlier, the PTI founder said that Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) had seized the amount after finding it “suspicious transactions” but not “money laundering”.

During the PTI government, the NCA seized assets worth £190 million from a property tycoon.

“If the case goes on in the civil court, the money will not return to Pakistan for another 5 years,” he said, adding that a private party and the UK’s NCA had demanded not to disclose the agreement.