- Party’s political committee takes decision during a meeting chaired by Barrister Gohar
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has decided to challenge the Accountability Court’s verdict announced in Al-Qadir Trust case on Monday (tomorrow).
The was made during a meeting of political committee of the PTI held under the chairmanship of Barrister Gohar Khan and was attended by Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, Ali Amin Gandapur, Asad Qaiser, Salman Akram Raja and others.
According to PTI insiders, matters related to Al-Qadir Trust case verdict and ongoing dialogues with the government were discussed at length.
On the occasion, the PTI legal team briefed the leadership on Al-Qadir Trust case and its different aspects. After brainstorming session, PTI’s political committee o decided to challenge the Al-Qadir Trust case verdict on Monday (tomorrow).
An Accountability Court (AC) on Friday announced verdict, sentencing PTI founder Imran Khan to 14 years in jail and his wife Bushra Bibi to seven years in the graft reference about a 190 million pound scam (Al-Qadir Trust case).
AC Judge Nasir Javed Rana announced the reserved verdict — delayed thrice — in a makeshift courtroom at Adiala Jail. The court also imposed fines on Imran and Bushra, amounting to Rs1 million and Rs500,000, respectively. Failure to pay the fines would result in an additional six months in jail for Imran and three months for Bushra, the court said.
According to the verdict, property of the “sham trust ‘Al-Qadir University Project Trust’ is hereby forfeited to the Federal Government within the meaning of Section 10(a) of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999”.
“Both the convicts are present before the Court, they be taken into custody in this case and be handed over to the Superintendent Jail along with the Committal Warrant to serve the sentences so awarded,” it added.
PTI founder vows to “fight till last ball”
Following the court verdict, former prime minister Imran Khan condemned the court’s verdict in the Al Qadir Trust case, calling it “mockery” of justice and pledged to fight till the last ball and refuse any deals, The Express Tribune reported.
In a statement shared on social media platforms Facebook and X, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan condemned court’s decision in the Al Qadir Trust case, calling it a premeditated move with the verdict and sentencing already leaked to the media before the official announcement.
Khan called the judicial process a “mockery” of justice and said that the individuals who wrote the judgement leaked it to the media, undermining the integrity of the legal system, according to The Express Tribune report. PTI founder reiterated his stance against the “military-backed regime” and vowed to never accept it.
Reacting to the announcement of the verdict on Friday, PTI leaders such as Omar Ayub, Sheikh Waqqas Akram and others protested the couple’s innocence and maintained that their party founder had been subjected to political victimisation.
“We will challenge the verdict in the superior courts,” the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly told a press conference after the verdict.
Interim party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan divulged that an appeal would be filed before the high court within a few days, and hoped that Mr Khan would be released soon.
He also said the party founder, whose morale was high despite his conviction, had directed them to continue talks with the government.
PTI lawyer Faisal Chaudhry termed the decision an example of the “political use of NAB”.
“There was no evidence of monetary gain, crime proceed or financial corruption. This is a nonsense decision of a nonsense case,” he claimed.
Meanwhile, the party’s spokesperson, Sheikh Waqqas Akram, smelled a rat in the way the decision had been put off multiple times by Judge Nasir Javed Rana, and also questioned his competence.
Addressing a press conference at the KP information department on Friday, Mr Akram said that there was definitely some kind of interference or agenda behind the many postponements of the Al-Qadir Trust case verdict over the past weeks.
He said that previously, three judges hearing the case were changed, and the one who announced the verdict was fourth judge to hear the matter.
