Islamabad: Trouble continues to mount for former Pakistan premier and founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party as he and his wife Bushra Bibi were indicted in the Toshakhana 2.0 case, on Thursday.
Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had alleged that the Saudi royal family gifted a Bulgari jewellery set – including a ring, bracelet, necklace and earrings – to Imran Khan’s wife during her visit to the kingdom in May 2021 that was illegally retained by the former first couple instead of submitting it to the government’s Toshakhana where all such gifts to government officials are kept.
It was the country’s Deputy Military Secretary at that time who had informed the special investigation court that the jewellery was retained by Imran Khan’s wife.
On Thursday, a special court read the charges to Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi – both were present during the hearing – initiating legal proceedings into the case.
Khan is currently facing multiple charges and is serving jail term in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail. However, his wife Bushra Bibi was granted bail in the infamous Iddat case and other cases.
NAB maintained that Khan and Bushra Bibi had deliberately undervalued the actual price of the jewelry set.
NAB revealed that Bulgari sold the necklace to a Saudi Arabian franchise on May 25, 2018 for 300,000 Euros and earrings for 80,000 Euros. The total value of the jewelry set was valued in Pakistani currency at Rs 75,661,600. However, according to the investigating agency, the necklace and earrings were valued by Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, thus incurring a loss of at least Rs 35,765,800 to the national treasury.
The indictment of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana 2.0 case comes at a time when the PTI founder is facing multiple cases, including fresh ones filed against him for ordering and orchestrating the recent violent protest in Islamabad.
Khan faces a tough road ahead as any confession by former ISI chief Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Faiz Hamed, who has been accused of supporting former PM and even being the mastermind behind the targeted attacks by PTI workers on military installations across the country on May 9 last year, could lead to more hearings, this time in military courts.
–IANS