Pakistan: Court indicts Imran Khan, his wife in new Toshakhana case

Islamabad: A special court in Islamabad on Thursday indicted former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in the new Toshakhana case, Geo News reported.

Special Court Central-I Special Judge Central Shahrukh Arjumand, who presided over the hearing at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, framed the charges on Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had initially filed the case. Considering the NAB Amendments, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) took over the case and filed its challan in September, according to a Geo News report. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi have received bail in the case.

Imran Khan continues to remain behind bars as he has other cases registered against him while Bushra Bibi remains out of prison. The couple, who is accused of causing loss to the national exchequer through the illegal sale of gifts, was arrested in the said case on July 13, the same day when they were acquitted in the iddat case, Geo News reported.

Last week, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi indicted Imran Khan and other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders in connection with the May 9 attack on the General Headquarters (GHQ) in 2023, The Express Tribune reported.

The attack took place during the protests that erupted in Pakistan after Imran Khan’s arrest. ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah conducted a hearing for the GHQ attack case at a makeshift court set up in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. More than 100 individuals, including Omar Ayub, Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, Sheikh Rashid, Omar Ayub, Raja Basharat, and  Zartaj Gul have been indicted in the case, according to The Express Tribune report.

After the judge announced his decisionthe , opposition leader in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub, was arrested, while Punjab’s former law minister Raja Basharat was taken into custody immediately after leaving the jail. Subsequently, the judge adjourned the case until December 10.

Earlier, several PTI leaders including Sadaqat Abbasi, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, Mohammad Ahmed Chatha, Omar Ayub, Zartaj Gul, Rashid Shafiq, Sadaqat Abbasi, Waseem Qayyum Abbasi, Javed Kausar, Sajid Qureshi, and Usman Dar, reached Adiala Jail for the hearing.

The court had summoned all accused in the GHQ attack case, with charges expected to be formally brought against 120 individuals, including Imran Khan, The Express Tribune reported. Furthermore, the court has ordered Pakistan’s former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is incarcerated in Lahore Jail, to appear before the court.

The court ordered that arrests be made for several PTI leaders, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Shibli Faraz, Shireen Mazari, Zartaj Gul, Zain Qureshi, and Taiba Raja. In addition, arrest warrants were issued for 45 absconding accused, with the court warning that legal proceedings would start to declare them fugitives if they did not appear before the court.