On Saturday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced that the funds recovered by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) from a settlement with property magnate Malik Riaz’s family would be directed toward the nation’s welfare. The minister made this statement during a press conference in Lahore, following the sentencing in the Al-Qadir Trust Case, in which former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were convicted in the Β£190 million corruption case and sentenced to prison.
The court ruling led to the forfeiture of the “Al-Qadir University Project Trust” property to the federal government. Several other individuals involved in the case, including Malik Riaz and his family members, former accountability head Mirza Shahzad Akbar, and others, were declared fugitives, with perpetual arrest warrants and property confiscations issued.
The detailed court verdict, spanning 148 pages, referred to a previous Supreme Court ruling that the land granted by the Sindh Board of Revenue (SBR) to the Malir Development Authority (MDA) and later exchanged with Bahria Town was illegal and orchestrated through collusion. Bahria Town agreed to pay Rs460 billion for the land. However, the funds in foreign bank accounts, previously frozen by the NCA, were used to settle Bahria Town’s liabilities instead of being added to the national treasury.
Tarar explained that the funds recovered from the NCA would no longer be available to pay the fine imposed by the Supreme Court, leaving it to the private party and the court to figure out how to recover the money. He assured that the funds would now be utilized for national welfare.
The minister also stated that legal consultations were underway regarding the return of absconders and their potential extradition. Tarar claimed that Imran Khan had no legal grounds for an appeal, asserting that any attempt would likely fail due to insufficient evidence and documentation. He suggested that the appeal would not likely survive beyond a few hearings.
In a separate development, opposition leader Shibli Faraz of PTI accused the verdict in the Β£190 million case of being leaked online prior to the hearing. Faraz expressed concern over the involvement of multiple individuals in the leak, suggesting that the situation was akin to exam results being leaked before the test. He called for the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to investigate the matter and emphasized the importance of rule of law and democracy in Pakistan’s ongoing struggles.
