Islamabad court acquits Imran Khan in vandalism case

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD / RAWALPINDI: In yet another relief for the former prime minister and ex-PTI chairman Imran Khan, a court in Islamabad on Tuesday acquitted him, ex-PTI leader Asad Umar and other suspects, including PML-N MNA Raja Khurram Nawaz, in the case of vandalism registered against them at Margallah police station. Judicial Magistrate Mureed Abbas pronounced the decision.

Advocate Sardar Masroof Khan and Amina Ali appeared in the court on behalf of the suspects. The decision came only a day after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended the sentence awarded by the trial court to Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana case.

IHC’s two-member bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Aurangzeb, heard Imran and Bushra’s appeals against their conviction and in the reference. The court gave its ruling after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) lawyer said the Bureau had no objection to the suspension of sentence.

Speaking on the occasion, NAB Prosecutor Amjad Pervaiz said that after reviewing the case, he had reached the conclusion that it needed to be suspended. He requested the court to suspend the sentence, adding the appeals could not be heard at this stage.

Describing the NAB’s stance as ‘fair’, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb remarked that he praised the bureau for that. IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Aamer Farooq said that since the court was presently seized with the hearing of appeals in the US cipher case, it did not have time to hear arguments in the Toshakhana reference. Barrister Ali Zafar, counsel for Imran and Bushra, argued that it was a different case altogether. “Therefore, I request the bench to hear the initial arguments.”

Meanwhile, incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan Tuesday apprised the court that his wife and ex-first lady Bushra Bibi was poisoned at the Bani Gala sub-jail.

The PTI founder made the claim during a hearing of the £190 million settlement case in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail. Khan informed the accountability court judge that the former first lady had marks on her skin and tongue after “being poisoned”.

He sought the court’s order for an inquiry into the incident and a complete medical checkup of Bushra Bibi. Khan said: “I know who is behind it.” He insisted that the medical examination of the former first lady should be done by Dr Asim Yunus, a doctor at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre.

At this, the court directed Khan to submit a written application seeking the medical examination of Bushra Bibi. In February this year, the PTI expressed grave concern over what it claimed serious threats to the life and health of Bushra, who has been put under house arrest at Bani Gala. PTI Women Wing President Kanwal Shauzab pointed out that Bushra had serious health issues due to the harmful and substandard food being provided to her.

PTI lawyer Naeem Haider Panjutha had claimed that Bushra’s “health worsened and she got mouth ulcers after she was given a spicy meal” during her house arrest. Bushra was placed under house arrest at her husband’s Islamabad mansion after she and her husband were convicted of graft allegations. Khan and his wife were sentenced to 14 years in jail in a case that relates to accusations the ex-premier undervalued gifts from a state repository and gained profits from selling them while he held the country’s top office.

During her interaction with journalists before the court appearance, the former first lady claimed that “three drops of toilet cleaner” were mixed in her food on the eve of Shab-e-Meraj. She revealed that the food and water served by the jail authority tasted bitter.

Responding to a question, Bushra said that “someone” had told her in jail that toilet cleaner was mixed in her food. She, however, refused to disclose the name of the official. “My eyes swell up, I feel pain in my chest and stomach,” the former first lady claimed. Research showed that the health of a toilet cleaner victim worsens after one month, she also insisted. Bushra further said that the windows at Bani Gala were kept closed earlier but now they are open for some time.