The former first lady’s bail petition the case involving alleged illegal sale of state gifts was accepted by IHC’s Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb against Rs1 million surety bonds.
On October 3, Bushra Bibi moved the IHC seeking bail in the new Toshakhana case. FILED through Advocate Yousaf Chaudhry, the plea contended that the petitioner was a housewife and the allegations against her were baseless.
The petition added that the investigation was not transparent and the case was aimed at keeping the petitioner in jail. It said that the same case was being run with different angles.
Previously, a post-arrest bail filed by the former first lady was dismissed by a trial court on September 30.
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In August, a reference was filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the couple involving a jewellery set gifted to Bushra by the Saudi crown prince when Khan was the prime minister of the country from 2018 to 2022.
The jewellery set, consisting of a ring, bracelet, necklace a pair of earrings, was gifted to the former first lady on her visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2021, and the duo kept it illegally, alleges the NAB s reference.
During the hearing today, the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) prosecutor said that the jewellery set in the said case was priced while the suspects were in possession of the same. However, Umair Majeed, representing the FIA, maintained, the market value of a jewellery item could not be determined until it was physically available.
After hearing the FIA official s arguments, the court then granted bail to the former first lady who’s been incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.
On May 28, 2021, the price of the jewellery set was estimated at Rs70.56 million; the price of the necklace was Rs50.64 million and the price of the earrings included in the jewellery valued at Rs10.50 million back then.
As per the rules, the 50% price of the jewellery set is approximately Rs30.57 million.
As per the reference, the PTI founder and his wife violated the NAB Ordinance. It added that an inquiry was initiated against the former first couple on the instructions of the NAB chairman on August 1, 2022.
The reference read: "PTI founder and Bushra Bibi have misused their powers. PTI founder retained 58 out of 108 gifts during his prime ministership.”
