Pakistan: Accountability Bureau summons Imran Khan again in Toshakhana reference

Islamabad [Pakistan], June 17 : Imran Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has been summoned once again by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after he failed to show up at its Rawalpindi office on Friday, reported Geo News.

The former prime minister was initially called in for the investigations into the Toshakhana case on Friday after being ousted by the parliament last April. However, his attorney arrived at his place and asked for a new date.

The PTI chief had asked to be called on June 19, but the NAB changed the schedule to June 21 so that he could appear in the corruption case involving the state gift depository.

Allegations of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, and unlawful handling of state assets by those in positions of authority, among others, are being taken up in the case of Imran Khan, Geo News reported today.

As of now, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan has been notified to bring relevant records, including details and records of received state gifts, and records of sold state gifts and physically produce the state gifts retained.

According to Geo News, this has been done to evaluate the value of gifts by experts as per the list previously provided in the call-up notice.

It was alleged that the PTI Chief misused his power by keeping the gifts, which were valued at millions of rupees. The call-up notice said that the PTI leader, in his capacity as prime minister, had a say in how the price appraisal procedure was carried out by both public and private appraisers.

Moreover, PTI Chief Imran Khan, had, in the past, repeatedly ignored his scheduled hearings before the NAB, particularly in the Toshakhana case where he ignored the last three summons.

The anti-graft watchdog had noticed the purported failure to disclose the true worth of gifts received by the former prime minister Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, and other cabinet members in November last year, according to Geo News.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi was also summoned once again by the accountability bureau in National Crime Agency (NCA) 190 million pounds scandal on Friday.

For her attendance on June 22, the anti-corruption watchdog once more handed Bushra Bibi a call-up notice in the £190 million NCA affair.

She has been told to provide the NAB investigators with any pertinent Al-Qadir Trust documents. Bushra Bibi was called on June 13 but did not show up before the NAB before the notification was issued, ARY News reported.

The anti-corruption watchdog also called former principal secretary Azam Khan in the same case. On June 19, Azam Khan was requested by NAB Rawalpindi. The anti-graft watchdog called him on June 6, but he did not show up, as per ARY News.