Pakistan's Anti-Corruption Watchdog Files Case Against Imran Khan

Pakistan's anti-graft watchdog on Friday formally filed a case against former premier Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and others in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption after completing a probe.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) alleged that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief and his wife obtained billions of rupees and land worth dozens of acres from Bahria Town Ltd, a private land developing company, for legalising Rs 50 billion that was confiscated and returned to the cash-strapped country by the UK.

Apart from Khan and Bibi, six others including Bahria Town owner and leading property tycoon Malik Riaz have been named among the accused.

Five more named in the case are Farhat Shahzadi, a close friend of Bibi, former special assistants to the prime minister Shahzad Akbar and Zulfi Bukhari, legal expert for the PTI government's Assets Recovery Unit (ARU), Ziaul Mustafa Nasim and Ahmed Riaz.

The 71-year-old leader was initially arrested by NAB for probe in the case on May 9 which resulted in widespread violence by his supporters.

The cricketer-turned-politician was released by the Supreme Court after a couple of days.

He was again arrested on November 14 during incarceration in the Adiala Jail in the cipher case.

Khan was then handed over to the watchdog on physical remand.

At the last hearing of the case on November 27, accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir rejected NAB's request for extending Khan's physical remand and instead sent him to jail on a 14-day judicial remand.

At the previous hearing on November 24, the judge had instructed NAB to conclude its investigation and present a report.

NAB in the case filed on Friday stated the "accused [...] were given multiple opportunities to justify and provide information, but they deliberately, with a malafide intention, refused to provide the information on one or the other pretext.

"Furthermore, it is established through their responses that they have nothing in their defence to rebut the above-mentioned allegations. Thus, they all have committed an offence" under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).

It added that the investigation proceedings and finding "established that accused persons in connivance with each other have committed the offence of corruption and corrupt practices" as defined under the NAO.

It pleaded that the eight suspects be tried and punished by the law.

Khan is currently in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi facing several cases, most of them launched after his ouster from the government in April last year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)