Bushra Bibi, wife of PTI founder Imran Khan, is finally out of jail on bail after being behind bars for almost nine months.
Her release from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi comes a day after the Islamabad High Court granted her bail against surety bonds worth Rs 1 lakh in the fresh Toshakhana case.
The former first lady was arrested after a court on January 31 convicted the couple and sentenced them to 14 years in prison after convicting them of keeping and selling state gifts in violation of government rules (Toshakhana case) while Khan was in power.
Her release was expedited compared to the usual legal process, as normally, when a release order is issued, the imprisoned person is released within two hours. However, Bushra Bibi was released within just 20 minutes.
While media personnel and PTI staff were waiting outside the prison to communicate with Khan’s wife, the former first lady quickly left without speaking to anyone. However, workers showered her car with flowers as she sped off.
The Iraqi Supreme Court approved her release on bail on Wednesday, but due to the judge’s absence to sign the release order, she remained behind bars. Today, Justice Shah Rukh Arjumand signed off on Rupkar.
The former First Lady was arrested in the said case along with her husband, who remains behind bars at the same facility, shortly after they were acquitted in the iddah case – also known as the un-Islamic marriage case.
However, her legal troubles seemed to have seen a respite when she walked out of Adiala Prison through Gate No. 5.
The new Toshakhana case
The reference submitted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference relates to a case related to a jewelry collection gifted by the Saudi Crown Prince to Bushra Bibi when her husband Imran Khan was the country’s prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
The jewelry set — which consists of a ring, bracelet, necklace and pair of earrings — was gifted to the former First Lady during her visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2021, according to NAB.
She said that the PTI founder and his wife kept the jewelery collection illegally.
She added that the Deputy Military Secretary informed the Toshakhana Divisional Officer about the estimate and announcement of the price of the jewelry set. She stated that the jewelry set was not deposited in Toshakhana.
The jewelry company sold the necklace for 300,000 euros and the earrings for 80,000 euros on May 25, 2018. Information regarding the price of the bracelet and ring could not be obtained from the company.
On May 28, 2021, the price of the jewelry set was estimated at Rs 70.56 million; The price of the necklace was Rs 50.64 million and the price of the earrings included in the jewelery was worth Rs 10.50 million at that time.
As per the rules, the price of the 50% jewelery collection is around Rs 30.57 lakh.
The National Treasury suffered a loss of around Rs 30.28 lakh after the jewelery was undervalued.
According to the reference, the PTI founder and his wife violated the NAB Act. She added that an investigation was opened against the former first couple on the instructions of the NAB Chairman on August 1, 2022.
“PTI founder and Bushra Bibi misused their powers. PTI founder retained 58 out of 108 gifts during his tenure as prime minister,” the reference said.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more details.