Al-Qadir Trust case: Verdict reserved on Imran Khan's plea seeking 14-day custody

Islamabad, May 10, (Fast Mail News):-- An accountability court in Pakistan on Wednesday decided on a plea by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to send former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case, to 14-day custody. Kept it safe

The former prime minister was arrested on Tuesday by Rangers on the orders of the autonomous anti-corruption agency NAB in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case. After this, he was taken to the office in Rawalpindi for questioning. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) later announced that the arrest was legal, while reserving judgment on Khan's arrest. After this, Khan's legal team started preparing to challenge his arrest in the Supreme Court. Today PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhary has also filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging Khan's arrest amid tight security.

Today's hearing: At the start of the NAB court hearing, NAB asked for a 14-day remand. However, PTI's lawyers opposed this. According to media reports, Khan's legal team was denied permission to meet the party chief before the hearing. However, after the hearing began, Khan held discussions with advocates Khwaja Haris, Faisal Chowdhary, Ali Gauhar and Ali Bukhari.

Several officials of the anti-corruption watchdog, including special prosecutor Rafe Maqsood, deputy prosecutor Muzaffar Abbasi, prosecutor Sardar Zulqarnain and investigating officer Mian Umar Nadeem, were present in the court. The NAB prosecutor informed Additional Sessions Judge Mohd Bashir that Khan was shown the warrant at the time of his arrest. However, the PTI chief refuted the claims, saying that he saw the arrest warrant after reaching the NAB office.

Abbasi assured the judge that all necessary documents would be provided to the PTI chief's lawyers. Taking a break, the judge directed the legal team to hold discussions with Khan as Khan had complained that the authorities did not allow him to meet his client before the hearing.

When the hearing resumed after a break, Khawaja Haris argued about the legality of Khan's arrest. Sharing details of the case, Abbasi said that the UK's National Crime Agency seized the money and sent it back to the Pakistan government. After lawyer Haris completed the arguments, Khan complained that the records that the "anti-graft watch dog" is seeking are not being shared with the authorities.

Khan said that NAB is saying that they want to compile the records. He questioned when he denied access to any records. The former prime minister said all transactions were done after cabinet approval. Recalling yesterday's events, Khan urged the judges to call his team of doctors, especially Dr. Faisal.

Khan was not brought to a regular court in the federal capital but his scheduled hearing took place at the place where he was in custody. The notification issued by the Government of Pakistan stated that the Chief Commissioner of Islamabad had earlier said that Khan would be produced at New Police Guest House, Police Line, instead of being taken to F-8 Court Complex and Judicial Complex G 11/4. Which has been given one-time status of the court for this special hearing. The decision to produce Khan before the special court instead of the NAB court was taken in view of the threat to his life. According to sources, the PTI chief was shifted from the NAB office to an undisclosed location late last night.