Pakistan Court Sends Imran Khan On 14-Day Judicial Remand In Al Qadir Trust Case

The accountability court in Pakistan rejected the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) plea for an extension of the physical remand of Imran Khan, the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), according to a report by Dawn on Monday. Instead, he was placed on judicial remand in the Al Qadir Trust Case. Imran Khan had been initially arrested earlier in the year at the Islamabad High Court but was released when the Supreme Court deemed the arrest unlawful.

On November 14, Imran Khan, already incarcerated in Adiala Jail in the cipher case, faced another arrest by NAB in the Al-Qadir Trust case and was placed on physical remand. During the recent court hearing, Imran Khan wife and legal team were present, along with a five-person NAB team, as reported by Dawn.

Despite the National Accountability Bureau request to extend Imran Khan physical remand, the court decided to place the PTI chief on judicial detention. In a subsequent media interview, Imran attorney, Sardar Latif Khosa, argued against the necessity of physical remand in this case. Khosa contended that NAB was engaged in "political engineering and political vendetta," alleging that the government often exploited it to advance its own agenda, as per Dawn report.

In addition to the Al Qadir Trust Case, Imran Khan faces charges related to deceiving the cabinet by withholding information about a settlement arrangement. The settlement, amounting to 140 million pounds, was intended for the national exchequer but was reportedly redirected to address Bahria Town Karachi (BTK) obligations of PKR 450 billion. Furthermore, on August 12, 2019, the National Crime Agency (NCA) froze an additional 119.7 million pounds in Malik Riaz family bank accounts and one Hyde Park Place home.