By Asim Yasin/khalid Iqbal in The News, Dec 20, 2023
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau on Tuesday filed the Toshakhana reference against the former prime minister and his wife Bushra Imran Khan, as co-accused in the Accountability Court in Islamabad, for retaining the Graff Jewelery set gifted by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
The NAB prosecutor, Sohail Arif, and Investigation Officer Mohsin Haroon submitted the reference at the Registrar’s Office.
The Director General NAB, Rawalpindi, had authorized an inquiry on 05.08.2022 into the Toshakhana case which was upgraded into the investigation on 14.07.2023.
During the investigation, it transpired that former PM Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi received 108 gifts from different heads of state and retained 58 against an undervalued amount of Rs142,123,100.
The NAB reference pertains only to the Graff Jewelery set received by the couple from the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. The gift was reported to
Toshakhana by the Depuy Military Secretary but was not deposited for a transparent assessment. According to the reference, Bushra Bibi, in connivance with accused Imran Khan, violated the Clause-1 of the Toshakhana procedure by not depositing the gift before retention. Acting in connivance, both the accused, the reference alleges, exercised undue influence on Sohaib Abbasi, private appraiser (approver in the reference) through Syed Inam Ullah Shah (former PS/ Comptroller to Imran Khan/ PM’s Office) to illegally undervalue the assessment of Graff Jewelery set of their own choice and illegally retained it against a meagre payment of Rs9.031 million (approx.) based on undervalued price assessment of Rs18,092,000.
In the light of the evidence, the reference establishes that the assessment by Sohaib Abbasi, private appraiser (approver), and government appraiser was highly undervalued. The Registrar’s Office of the Accountability Court would take further action after scrutiny of the case. On Saturday, an accountability court approved a two-day physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case. Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir issued the directives while conducting the hearing at the Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi. The NAB officials requested a 7-day physical remand of the former prime minister, which was turned down by the AC judge who approved only a two-day physical remand.
The reference was filed by lawmakers from the ruling coalition last year. The Toshakhana issue became a major sticking point in national politics after the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified the PTI chief in October 2022 for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”. The ECP judgment held that the former premier indulged in corrupt practices under articles 167 and 173 of the Constitution.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1140015-gift-appraiser-turns-approver-in-toshakhana-case-filed-against-imran-bushra
