ISLAMABAD: The verdict in the £190 million reference involving former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse, Bushra Bibi, could not be announced on Monday due to holidays.

The accountabiliy court had reserved the verdict on Dec 18 at Central Jail Adiala, following the conclusion of arguments. The court had set Dec 23 to announce the judgement. However, judge Nasir Javed Rana has sch­eduled the verdict for Jan­ 6, 2025, citing upcoming holidays and other judicial commitments.

The judge informed Kha­lid Yousaf Chaudhry, a member of Mr Khan’s legal team, that the verdict would not be anno­unced due to the court’s calendar constraints and assured that a new date would be finalised.

Later, the court set a new date to announce the judgement.

Mr Chaudhry said he was anticipating an adv­erse verdict based on the results of Mr Khan’s previous trials in Toshakhana, cipher and Iddat cases.

He said that the PTI founder’s legal team did its best to counter the prosecution evidence, and there was nothing left to substantiate the crime against his clients.

In Dec 2023, the Natio­nal Accou­n­t­a­bility Bureau (NAB) filed a corruption reference against Mr Khan and seven others, including his wife, in connection with the Al-Qadir University.

Property developer Malik Riaz and his son Ahmed Ali Riaz have been declared proclaimed offenders as they absconded when the investigation began.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2024