RAWALPINDI (Kashmir English): A special court of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday sentenced Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 17 years in prison each in the Toshakhana II case.
Senior Special Judge Central-I Shahrukh Arjumand delivered the verdict after conducting 80 hearings at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.
As per the order, both the convicts were awarded 10-year rigorous imprisonment and Rs16.4 million in fines each under Section 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The court also awarded an additional seven years of jail to each convict under Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) 1947, which is related to criminal misconduct by public servants.
As per the law, a failure to pay the fines will result in additional jail time.
The accountability court has also imposed a fine of Rs 10 million each. The case is related to the purchase of an expensive Bulgari jewellery set at a throwaway price.
What is the Toshakhana II case?
The case is based on a Bvlgari Jewellery gift set gifted to Imran Khan by the Saudi crown prince during an official visit from May 7 to 10, 2021, which was not deposited and was retained by the couple at a nominal price.
Under the law, state gifts belong to the state, and are recipients are legally bound to be deposited in Toshakhana in accordance with the Procedure for Acceptance and Disposal of Gifts, but the record states the gift was entered in registers without physical deposit.
According to the invoices, the Bvlgari set was estimated at a cost of Rs. 71.5, but it was undervalued at Rs 5.8 million, causing a loss of Rs 32.85 million to the national exchequer.
Necklace and earrings were assessed at Rs 1.6 million combined, while the claimed actual value exceeded Rs 71 million.
The prosecution maintains that the gifts were not declared or managed in accordance with the relevant rules, and it is a public trust matter. The prosecution contended that the PTI founder retained the jewellery set, valued at approximately Rs80 million, after paying only Rs2.9 million.
As per the prosecution, Bushra Bibi was the recipient of a Bvlgari gift set from the Crown Prince and was duty-bound to deposit the gift in the Toshakhana. However, as per the record, she violated the procedure by not depositing the gift at Toshakhana.
The court was told that Bibi pressured the private appraiser for the desired valuation of said gift to retain it at a nominal cost for personal gain, causing loss to the national exchequer amounting to Rs 32.85 million.
