Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan and wife Bushra Bibi sentenced to 17 years imprisonment, case of fraud in gift received from Saudi government
Islamabad. Pakistan’s accountability court on Saturday sentenced jailed former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 17 years of imprisonment each in the Toshakhana-2 corruption case. Khan, 73, who has been in jail since August 2023, is facing various cases after being ousted as prime minister in April 2022. The Toshakhana-2 case pertains to alleged fraud in government gifts received by Khan and Bibi from the Saudi government in 2021.
Special court judge Shahrukh Arjumand pronounced the verdict in the case at the high-security Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Khan is currently lodged. Khan and Bushra were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment each under Section 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Pakistan Penal Code and seven years imprisonment each under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.64 crore each on both of them. The judgment said, “While sentencing, this court took into account the age of Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi as well as the fact that Bushra Imran Khan is a woman. Keeping both these facts in mind, it adopted a flexible approach and awarded a lesser sentence than a higher sentence.”
The court said that “the convicts in this case have been given the benefit of Section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) (to take into account the period of imprisonment at the time of sentencing).” A total of 21 witnesses appeared in the court during the hearing of the case. Khan and Bushra were present in the court when the verdict was announced. Khan had rejected these allegations in the statement recorded under section 342 of CrPC in the case. He had alleged that the case was fake.
The case was filed in July 2024 and it was alleged that Khan and Bibi had sold valuable textiles, expensive watches, diamonds and gold jewelery without depositing them in the Toshakhana (state gift store). Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani told Geo News that the gifts were not deposited even though they should have been deposited legally.
Terming the incident as “unfortunate”, he said, “As per the facts that emerged during the legal process, the actual value of the jewelery was Rs seven crore; however, it was valued at Rs 58-59 lakh.” The Toshakhana is a department functioning under the Cabinet Division that stores gifts received by Pakistani rulers and government officials from heads of government and foreign dignitaries of other countries.
Once the gifts are deposited in the Toshakhana, they can be purchased under proper rules and procedures. In October 2024, the Islamabad High Court granted bail to Bushra in the case, and a month later, Khan was also granted bail in the case. The trial against him started in December last year.
Meanwhile, the prosecution process took place at Adiala jail, where Khan and his wife are imprisoned after their conviction in the Al-Qadeer Trust case earlier this year. Both convicts can appeal against their sentences in the High Court.
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