RAWALPINDI: Dismissing the acquittal pleas filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in the new Toshakhana case, a special court of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday announced that the couple would be indicted in the said case on November 18.
The court had reserved its verdict on the suspects’ acquittal pleas on November 8.
The case at hand pertains to an alleged illegal sale of a jewellery set gifted to Bushra by the Saudi crown prince when her husband Khan was the prime minister of the country from 2018 to 2022.
However, it is not to be mixed with the first Toshakhana case wherein the couple was sentenced to 14 years in prison and was handed down a fine of Rs1.57 billion — Rs787 million each — in January.
The couple’s sentence in the first (old) Toshakhana case was suspended by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in April.
The announcement of the indictment date in the new Toshakhana case comes as the former first lady, last month, was released from Adiala jail after month-long incarceration after the IHC accepted her bail plea against Rs1 million surety bonds.
The former first lady’s release prompted rumours alleging that the development was a result of a deal — a proposition categorically denied by National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub.
“Bushra [Bibi’s] release is not part of any deal,” the PTI leader had remarked.
It is to be noted that both Khan and Bushra were arrested in the said case soon after their acquittal by Islamabad’s district and sessions court in the iddat case — also known as the un-Islamic nikah case.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) then filed a fresh reference against the couple accusing them of causing loss to the national exchequer.
