A subcommittee of the federal cabinet on Wednesday recommended placing the names of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and 28 others on the Exit Control List (ECL) in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

The case alleges that the ex-premier and his wife, Bushra Bibi, obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government.

Imran was initially arrested in the said case earlier this year from the premises of the Islamabad High Court but was later released after the Supreme Court declared the arrest unlawful.

On Nov 14, the PTI chief, who is already imprisoned in Adiala Jail in the cipher case, was again arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Al-Qadir Trust case. He was then handed over to the watchdog on physical remand.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Ministry of Interior said a meeting of the subcommittee of the federal cabinet was held today. It was attended by interim Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti and officials of other departments.

“The committee recommended putting the names of 41 people sent by various departments and institutions on the ECL. On the recommendation of NAB, names of 29 people, including Imran Khan, were recommended to be put on the ECL in the £190 million scandal,” it said.

Separately, recommendations were also made to remove 13 cases from the list. The ministry said courts had sought the removal of seven names from the ECL and “of the appeals submitted for revision, it was recommended to remove the names of three people from the ECL”.

It added that the recommendations of the committee have been sent to the federal cabinet for approval.

Earlier this year, the then-PDM government had placed Imran, his wife Bushra Bibi and dozens of party leaders and activists on the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) — a controversial substitute for the ECL.

The decision was taken in the aftermath of the May 9 riots that erupted across the country after Imran’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case, and different corruption cases, official sources had told Dawn.

The case

Earlier this year, former interior minister Rana Sanaullah had accused Imran and his wife of accepting Rs50bn and hundreds of kanals of land for protecting the real estate firm in a money laundering case.

He had alleged claimed that Bahria Town “illegally transferred” Rs50bn to a Pakistani national in the UK. The transfer was identified by the UK’s National Crime Agency, which subsequently informed the then PTI government of the crime, Sanaullah had said.

The PML-N leader had claimed that Imran, the prime minister at the time, had tasked Shehzad Akbar, ex-PM’s aide on accountability, to resolve the matter. Akbar “settled” the entire case, while the Rs50bn — which was state property and belonged to the national treasury — was adjusted against Bahria Town’s liability, the interior minister had alleged.

The next day, the federal cabinet constituted a committee to probe into Imran and his wife Bushra’s alleged involvement in the case.

According to Sanaullah, Bahria Town had donated hundreds of acres of land to Al-Qadir Trust, with the agreement bearing signatures of the real estate developer’s donors and Bushra Khan — the wife of former premier Imran.

He said the non-profit organisation had only two trustees: Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi. The minister added that another 240 kanals were transferred to “Farah Shehzadi”.