The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruled that the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) notices to PTI Chairman Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were illegal.
The notices were issued as part of an investigation into allegations that the couple unlawfully retained gifts from the Toshakhana, a department responsible for storing precious items given to Pakistani public officials under the control of the Cabinet Division.
Imran Khan has encountered various legal problems because of his alleged unlawful retention of gifts from the Toshakhana.
In the past, these legal issues led to his disqualification by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). On May 10, the Islamabad High Court is expected to charge Imran in a separate case regarding the Toshakhana gifts.
The NAB had issued notices to Imran and his wife Bushra Bibi in connection to an inquiry into their supposed illegal possession of Toshakhana gifts. The matter was previously mentioned in the NAB notice, and Imran has faced legal difficulties due to this issue.
Earlier this month, Imran and Bushra had challenged the NAB case against them, which accused them of retaining and “illegally” selling Toshakhana gifts. On February 17, NAB had issued notices to Imran and Bushra for retaining state gifts.
The anti-corruption watchdog had sought details from Imran about wristwatches and a mobile phone presented to him by various foreign dignitaries. NAB also asked for details about jewellery sets presented to Bushra, including a Rolex watch, a gold and diamond locket presented by the Emir of Qatar, and two necklace sets gifted by the Saudi crown prince on September 18, 2020, and May 21, 2021, respectively.
Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi had challenged the NAB case against them earlier this month, which accused them of unlawfully retaining and selling Toshakhana gifts. On February 17, NAB had issued notices to the couple for retaining state gifts, including wristwatches, a mobile phone, and jewellery sets.
In response to the notices, the Islamabad High Court issued a verdict today, stating that while the NAB deputy prosecutor general may have taken a correct position, the notices were not in accordance with the law. The court concluded that the notices had no legal effect and could not be enforced.
The verdict, which was co-authored by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Babar Sattar, further noted that NAB was free to issue new notices to the petitioners in line with the court’s observations.
In a petition before the IHC filed through his attorney Khawaja Haris Ahmed and Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, the former prime minister and his wife had pleaded that NAB had issued the notice in violation of Section 19 of the National Accountability Ordinance.
“The contents of the call-up notice unambiguously establish that the respondent [NAB] had, through their impugned notice, initiated a fishing exercise, rather than complying with the provision of law before issuing the same,” the petitions said. It requested the court to declare the NAB notice illegal.
The NAB’s call-up notice, signed by its additional director Mohammad Faisal Qureshi, earlier sent to Imran’s Banigala residence in Islamabad, was issued on Feb 17.
The notice said: “The competent authority has taken cognisance of an offence allegedly committed by the accused persons under the provisions of NAO, 1999.
“In this regard, the inquiry proceedings have revealed that during your tenure in office you retained some state gifts presented to you by various foreign dignitaries including the following luxury items — five Rolex wristwatches; one iPhone presented by Chief of Staff, Qatar Armed Forces, dated 14.11.2018; (No. E67574V3), a pair of cufflinks, one ring; unstitched cloth from Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia dated 18.09.2020; Graff gift set containing one Graff wristwatch Master Graff Special Edition Mecca timepiece, one 18K gold and diamond Graff pen and a ring and pair of cufflinks with micro-painting of Mecca,” the according to the notice.
