ISLAMABAD, May 10: Announcing its reserved verdict, an anti-graft court approved on Wednesday eight-day physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir conducted the hearing of the case at the New Police Guest House earlier in the day, wherein the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) presented the reasons behind the former prime minister’s arrest, and sought his 14-day physical remand.
However, Imran’s legal team opposed the NAB’s request. His lawyer Khawaja Harris maintained that the PTI chief will cooperate in the investigation and that there was “no need for a physical remand”.
Deputy Prosecutor General NAB Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi, Special Prosecutor Rafi Maqsood, NAB investigation officer Mian Umar Nadeem and NAB Prosecutor Sardar Zulqarnain were present at the hearing.
The PTI chief was represented by Khawaja Harris, Barrister Ali Gohar and Advocate Ali Bukhari.
The hearing
During the hearing, the NAB prosecutor told the accountability court that the arrest warrant was shown to Imran Khan at the time of his arrest.
However, the PTI chief maintained that he was shown the warrant when he reached the NAB office.
In his arguments, the NAB prosecutor told the court that “this is a case of corruption which was investigated by National Crime Agency (NAC) of the UK.”
“The money in this case was to be transferred to the government of Pakistan,” he added.
Haris argued that, “My client was illegally arrested.” “Proper method was not adopted to arrest Imran. [The] NAB sent a notice, but when did it convert the complaint into a reference?” he questioned.
The lawyer maintained that “Imran is also being dragged in many other cases”, adding that “my client will join the investigation and cooperate in it”.
The court later reserved its verdict.
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