Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has been arrested in a corruption case related to a settlement between his previous government and property tycoon Malik Riaz. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has charged Khan, his wife, and two close aides with adjusting 190 million pounds sent by the UK’s National Crime Agency to the Pakistani government and receiving undue benefits of over 458 kanal land to establish Al-Qadir University. The case reportedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer.
The NAB has been investigating alleged corruption in the Al-Qadir Trust case since 2018. It sent multiple notices to Khan to appear for the proceedings, but he did not. Arrest warrants against Khan were issued on May 1 by NAB chairman Lt Gen (Retd) Nazir Ahmad Butt. Khan was arrested by law enforcement agencies when he was at the Islamabad High Court to seek bail in multiple FIRs registered against him.
Khan’s arrest has prompted widespread protests by his supporters across the country and threatens to escalate the ongoing political crisis in Pakistan. The Islamabad High Court summoned top officials and police officers after Khan’s arrest from the court premises but reserved its ruling. Chief Justice Aamer Farooq took notice of the arrest when the PTI chief was present at the court to mark his biometric attendance before the start of the hearing of a corruption case. The court heard arguments on the merit of the arrest and if it was legal to arrest someone present inside the court. After hearing the case, the chief justice reserved the judgment without giving a date for its announcement.
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