Rs 5239524 fine, 17-year sentence: Major setback for Imran Khan, wife Bushra Bibi as Pakistani court orders…, what is this new controversy all about?

The troubles of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan seem far from over. The cricketer turned Politician is currently in Adiala Jail and is involved in multiple legal battles. Adding yet another blow to his already detrimental position, it has been reported that his sisters were denied visits with him while in jail. This has led to renewed tensions and anger among Khan’s supporters. Adding to his problems, a Pakistani accountability court on Saturday sentenced jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 17 years imprisonment each in the Toshakhana 2 corruption case, as reported by news agency PTI.

What led to Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi being fined Rs 5,239,524 and sentenced to 17 years?

This case involves claims of fraudulent activity relating to gifts that the former first couple received from the Saudi government in 2021. Special court judge Shahrukh Arjumand announced the judgment in the case in Rawalpindi’s high-security Adiala Jail.

Khan and Bushra have both been sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for Section 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Pakistan Penal Code, and they were also sentenced to 7 years for various violations under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The court also imposed a fine of PKR 16.4 million(Rs 5239524) on each of them. In July of 2024, the case was filed and was based on allegations that valuable items, including expensive watches, as well as diamond and gold jewellery sets, were sold by the former couple without being deposited in the Toshakhana – the state gift repository.

Who else is involved in the controversies?

In October 2024, Bushra was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court in this case, and a month later, Khan was also granted bail in the same case. They were indicted in December last year. Meanwhile, the prosecution process went on in the Adiala Jail, where both Khan and his wife have already been incarcerated after conviction earlier this year in the Al-Qadir Trust case. Both convicts can file appeals in the High Court against their convictions, PTI reported.

At present, Imran, 72, has been in jail since August 2023, convicted in a string of cases he says were politically driven following his ouster in a 2022 no-confidence vote. His first conviction was in the Toshakhana case and centred on accusations that he unlawfully sold gifts received in office.