ISLAMABAD, Feb 02 (APP): The Accountability Court (AC) of Islamabad on Friday issued its written order regarding the 14 years imprisonment sentence to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) founder and his wife Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana case.
AC Judge Muhammad Bashir, in his 44-page detailed judgment, said that the court had testified a total of 16 witnesses during the trial.
The order said that the PTI’s founder and his wife received a total of 108 gifts from abroad.
It further said that the PTI founder’s wife received a graff jewellery set as a gift from the Saudi Crown Prince, which was reported but not deposited into the Toshakhana.
The judgment said that the two accused used influence on the private expert who determined the value of the gift. They acquired the graff jewelry set after paying only Rs 9 million while its actual value was over Rs 3.16 billion.
According to Sohaib Abbasi, who determined the value of said gift, he estimated the value of the gift lower on the instruction of the PTI’s founder. The NAB (National Accountability Bureau) had served five notices to Bushra Bibi and the founder of PTI and asked them to come with the graff jewellery set to determine the price but both did not bring the gift.
It said that the attitude of PTI’s founder during trial was very inappropriate. The accused had been changing the defence lawyers repeatedly and they were not even willing to cross-examine the witnesses. The court shared a questionnaire with the PTI’s founder but he did not answer it.
The defence lawyers were aware about the hearing date but they did not arrive court, it added.
The court said that the accused did not properly determine the actual value of the gift. The founder of PTI and Bushra Bibi did not even give the information about the gifts.
The verdict said that NAB contacted Imran Bashir, a Dubai-based expert on jewellery and antiquities, who estimated the price of set from various dealers. He reported that the value of jewelry set was Rs 3.160 billion.
If further said that it was proved that the price of jewellery set was much higher than the estimate got from a private person. It was proved that Bushra Bibi received the jewellery set but she did not submit it to the Toshakhana.
The verdict said that the accused were given enough time to answer the questions but they did not. Bushra Bibi recorded the statement but the PTI founder used delaying tactics.
The prosecution presented solid evidence against the accused to prove the charges, it added.
“Keeping in view the facts, the court is awarding 14-year rigorous imprisonment sentence each to Bushra Bibi and the PTI founder. The court also imposes fine worth Rs 787 million on each accused.”
The court also disqualified the PTI’s founder for ten-year for holding any public office.
