Bansri Shah, Pune
The former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, and his wife were sentenced to 14 years at the Rawalpindi Adiala Jail following corruption charges on Wednesday. They were prohibited from holding any public office for a decade and fined ₹787 million each.
The corruption charges follow the allegations against Khan and Bushra Bibi (his wife) of getting expensive gifts that include jewelry and watches from the government treasury or the Toshakhana while he was still the Prime Minister. The Toshakhana rule is that there is a treasury for gifts that government officials receive from foreign dignitaries during their tenure in the position which they are allowed to keep if they deposit them first and pay a fair price for them. The charges against Khan and his wife state that they purchased these gifts from the treasury at a significantly lower rate than listed. These gifts include seven watches, out of which six are Rolexes and the most expensive of them is a limited edition Master Graff watch that is valued at $300,000.
Similar charges had been levied against Khan in August 2022 by another court but these charges had been dismissed after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) found out that he had sold the items legally.
“I have been deceived as I was only called to mark my attendance for the hearing,” said Khan. “My lawyers are not here yet. I will submit the statement after showing it to them when they come,” he added. According to Khan’s attorney, Babar Awan, the former Prime Minister was hastily convicted and sentenced, with the judge proceeding without waiting for the arrival of his legal team. Bushra Bibi, who was not present at the hearing, surrendered herself later at the Adiala Jail. The members of Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), believe that this ruling violates the Constitution and the law of the country.
The judgment comes a day after him and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the vice-chairman of PTI, were sentenced to 10 years in prison by a committee established under the Official Secrets Act for leaking secret diplomatic correspondence from Washington to Islamabad when Khan was in power.
In response to the sentencing, representatives of Khan’s team have said, “This ridiculous decision will also be challenged.”