ISLAMABAD, July 15 (NNI): Former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have filed an appeal in the Islamabad High Court against a fresh corruption case registered against them hours after they were acquitted on Saturday on charges of marrying unlawfully, the party said on Monday.
It is pertinent to mention here that the fresh case was registered against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
“The petitions of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi have been filed to Justice Aamer Farooq’s court to annul the summons notices in NAB’s new toshakhana [state treasury] inquiry and to stop NAB from proceedings,” Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said on X on Monday, referring to the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court.
On Saturday, a team of the anti-corruption watchdog arrested the couple from Adiala Jail where they have been imprisoned for months in the new reference related to the alleged “misuse of power in acquiring Toshakhana gifts.”
Imran Khan was given jail sentences — one of 14 years and the other three years — in two cases pertaining to acquiring and selling state gifts. Both sentences have been suspended by high courts while his appeals are heard.
The PTI founder and his wife are charged in the Toshakhana case with selling gifts worth more than 140 million rupees ($501,000) in state possession, which he received during his 2018-2022 premiership. The gifts included diamond jewelry and seven watches, six of them Rolexes — the most expensive being valued at 85 million rupees ($305,000).
The accountability court has already approved an eight-day physical remand each for Khan and Bushra in the new NAB reference.
“The accountability court today [Sunday] has directed the NAB to interrogate the two suspects in Adiala jail and also ordered to produce the couple before the court on July 22,” reports said. NNI
