Rawalpindi:
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi have made their statements in accordance with section 342 of the criminal case (CRPC) in a case related to alleged violation of the state’s gift storage rules from the couple in IMRAN’s period as PM.
In his statement, Imran has questioned whether just the failure to report a gift during Toshakhana in 2018 – gift storage – could justify litigation.
He said that the Toshakhana gift -a Bulgari jewelery set -was received between 7 and 10 May 2021 during his visit to Saudi Arabia, and that the National Accountability Bureau (Nab) later turned this into a case and accused him and his wife of abusing the gift rule to get the set.
He said the rules were completely silent on the federal investigative agency (FIA) jurisdiction, and therefore he and his wife should be acquitted on this basis in the “false case.”
Imran claimed that cases had been made against him since November 2022. He claimed that Inamullah Shah, the Prosecutor’s most important witness, could not be trusted for several reasons.
He said Shah had been removed from the Prime Minister’s office to dishonest two wages and worked as part of Jahangir Tareen’s group.
According to the statement, when Inamullah Shah appeared as a witness in the first neighbor’s reference, he never mentioned the Bulgari jewelry set back then.
In her statement, Bushra Bibi said she had kept the Bulgari jewelry set after paying for it according to the Toshakhana rules. She ever denied to instruct Inamullah Shah to underestimate the set and clarified that he had worked first at the PTI Secretariat and later in the Prime Minister’s house.
Bushra Bibi declared that even if hypothetically underestimated the Inamullah Shah Set and gave her an advantage of RS3.2 billion in May 2021, which is why he was dismissed just two months later – in July 2021 – to only deduct RS 70,000 extra pay.
She said the prosecution collapses because its facts are wrong. She maintained that Nab has no jurisdiction and that a pricing estimate from Italy cannot be accepted as an acceptable evidence.
She further claimed that the Nab chairman had no authority to pardon to approve the Sohaib Abbasi on May 23, 2024, and that the claim to send a message through the Inamullah Shah to underestimate the jewelry set was false.
Bushra Bibi said the FIA never conducted an investigation and violated its own rules by submitting a fabricated report. She also noted that in the first Toshakhana case, Witnesses mentioned Inamullah Shah and Sohaib Abbasi never the Bulgari set.
Bushra, who declared herself a “pardah-nasheen,” said she had never participated in any political activity and had never instructed anyone to underestimate the jewelry set. She added that Islamabad High Court (IHC) had already stated in her order that the FIA had no jurisdiction to pursue such a case.
“No one can be punished twice for the same offense as done in the Toshakhana cases. After not finding anything in the forbidden financing and chiffer cases, the FIA has now created this case.”
The court had previously submitted a 29-point questionnaire in accordance with section 342 to both the PTI founder and his wife, who made their statements in court on Friday.
According to the FIA, Imran abused his attitude to acquire the jewelry set, which the Saudi Crown Prince presented as a gift during the couple’s visit to KSA in May 2021.
The set included a ring, bracelet, necklace and a pair of earrings. According to the evidence collected during the investigation, Imran and Bushra illegally retained the set.
On May 18, 2021, the Deputy Militarian Secretary’s officer informed the Officer of the Section about Toshakhana about the need to assess and declare the price of the gift, but it was not deposited.
Bulgari sold the necklace for 300,000 euros and earrings for 80,000 euros to a Saudi franchise on May 25, 2018. However, the price of the bracelet and the ring could not be determined.
From May 28, 2021, the total estimated value of the Bulgari jewelery set was approximately RS75.661.600. The necklace alone was appreciated for RS56,496,000 and earrings for RS15.065,600.
According to the Toshakhana rules, 50% of the price would constitute RS35,765,800, but the jewelry set was underestimated, causing a loss of RS32,851,300 to the national treasury, the FIA claimed.
