RAWALPINDI: Former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were awarded 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment in the Toshakhana case on Wednesday.
Moreover, Imran Khan was also disqualified from holding any public office for 10 years. The verdict was announced by accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir a day after the former prime minister was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in the cipher case.
The accountability court judge announced the verdict in the Adiala jail in the presence of Imran Khan though his wife had not reached the jail. After the verdict, Bushra Bibi reached the jail and was arrested.
At the outset of the proceedings, the judge asked Imran if he had filed his statement. In reply, he said he had completed the file and would submit it after arrival of his wife and lawyers.
When the judge seemed in a hurry, the former prime minister seemed annoyed and said he had been deceived, adding he had been told to come to the court just to mark his attendance. He then left the court room.
The judge later announced the verdict after Imran first refused to return to the court and then showed up after repeated calls. The couple was also fined 15,740 million rupees.
It may be mentioned here that a day earlier Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi were sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment in the cipher case.
The convictions of the PTI founder and former prime minister and his disqualification is significant in the sense that these developments have come in quick succession just a week before the Feb 8 elections in the country.
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