The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday approved bail for PTI founder Imran Khan in the 190 million pound corruption case.
In a 12-page written order, IHC's Chief Justice Aamer Farooq observed that the Special Prosecutor appearing for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was right in saying that money seized by British authorities ought to have been transferred to the accounts of the government of Pakistan, rather than to the accounts of the Supreme Court where they were presented as a settlement of liability for Bahria Town Pvt. Limited. The housing society had to pay the court a sum of Rs460 billion as part of its settlement for a massive project located in Karachi. The court noted that there are various provisions under the United Nations Charter for Prevention of Corruption, which says that the proceeds from the crimes are to be remitted to the states.
"In the world of transparency, it is
surprising that money received from aboard, which was either laundered or illegally transferred, was kept hidden from the public of Pakistan," observed the two-member bench of the IHC, comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri. The court had reserved its judgement a day ago after NAB's prosecution team and Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, the counsel for Imran, concluded their arguments.
In granting bail, the IHC noted that the documents which formed the basis for the transfer of money into the account of the Supreme Court's Registrar were not available on record.
"It is also an admitted position that investigation in the matter stands completed and continued incarceration of the petitioner would not serve any purpose, though the prosecution has expressed apprehension that the petitioner might temper with record or influence the trial being a political person, however, there is nothing on record which justify the referred apprehension," the court observed.
The court set bail at Rs1 million with two sureties in the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court.