Pakistan’s ex-PM Imran Khan, wife Bushra Bibi sentenced to 17 years in Toshakhana case after trial in Adiala Jail

A special court has sentenced Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former PM Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 17 years of imprisonment each in the Toshakhana 2 case. Special Judge Central Shahrukh Arjumand pronounced the verdict on Saturday after conducting 80 hearings at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, where Imran is incarcerated. The case involves the acquisition of an expensive Bulgari jewellery set gifted to Imran by the Saudi crown prince during an official visit in May 2021, at a throwaway price. The prosecution contended that Imran retained the jewellery set, valued at approximately Rs 80 million, after paying only Rs 2.9 million.

According to the judgment, Imran and Bushra were jailed for 10 years each under sections 34 and 409 of the Pakistan Penal Code and an additional seven years’ imprisonment each under section 5 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) 1947. Both were also fined a total of Rs 16.4 million and as per law, a failure to pay the fines will result in additional jail time.

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‘Taking lenient view, awarding lesser punishment’

The court said it was taking a lenient view and awarding lesser punishment considering the old age of Imran and Bushra being a female.

“This court, while passing sentences, has considered the old age of Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi, as well as the fact that Bushra Imran Khan is a female. It is in consideration of both said factors that a lenient view has been taken in awarding lesser punishment,” said a report in Dawn, citing the court order.

“Additionally, the benefit of Section 382-B of the CrPC has been extended to both convicts,” the judgment read.

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Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Imran’s jail term in the case would begin after his sentence in the £190 million corruption case ended.

Imran and Bushra Bibi were indicted in the case last year in December. Earlier this year in October, the two had denied all allegations in the case, terming it a fabricated and politically motivated attempt to disqualify Imran from politics.

Imran, imprisoned since August 2023, is serving a 14-year sentence at the Adiala jail in a £190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the protests of May 9, 2023. Bushra Bibi is also serving a seven-year sentence in £190 million corruption case.

‘Kangaroo court announced the verdict,’ says PTI

The PTI said that Imran’s family was not allowed inside the jail, where a “kangaroo court announced the verdict of the Toshakhana 2 case”. “A closed-door jail trial is neither free nor fair; it is in fact a military trial,” the party said. It also shared a video of Imran’s sister Aleema Khan inside a car asking why she was not being allowed to proceed further.

“They can’t stop us. The jail trial is today,” she said in the video, adding that it was “illegal” that the family was being stopped.

Later, Aleema alleged that decisions against Imran were being delivered under a pre-written script.

“Our patience and the patience of the people has run out. The people of Pakistan will not allow this to happen anymore,” she warned.

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‘Contempt of court, contempt of law, and contempt of justice’

Aleema also questioned the legality of the treatment being meted out to Bushra Bibi, asking why she had been kept in what she described as illegal solitary confinement.

The party alleged that Imran and Bushra Bibi’s lawyers were not present at the time the verdict was announced. “Neither were their families allowed to come to court, nor were basic judicial requirements fulfilled,” PTI said.

“This is open contempt of court, contempt of law, and contempt of justice,” the party said.

The party alleged that the courts had become an “instrument of political engineering, rather than being an independent forum”.

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