Duo accuses NAB of acting establishment and and their opponents\u2019 tool to keep them out of political arena
\n ISLAMABAD
\nAs the Toshakhana-2 reference moves towards its final stages, PTI founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have accused the NAB of acting as a tool of the establishment and their political opponents to keep them out of the political arena.
\nIn their statements during the investigation of the case, Imran had alleged that he was ousted from power through a \u201clocal and foreign conspiracy\u201d and had since November 2022, faced ruthless and unprecedented victimisation. He said that dozens of cases were manufactured against him and the PTI leadership, but all major prosecution cases have collapsed either through acquittals or suspension of sentences.
\nKhan questioned why only he and his wife were being singled out in the Toshakhana reference, when Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari illegally retained luxury vehicles from Toshakhana, yet no action was taken against them. He maintained that all gifts retained during his premiership were evaluated by government-approved appraisers and in line with policy.
\nThere has been absolutely no influence used in this or any previous case, he said, declaring that responsibility lay with the appraisers themselves. Naming Inam Shah, the key prosecution witness, in particular, Khan accused him of dishonesty and of working under the influence of Jehangir Tareen and Awn Chaudhry. He claimed both JKT and Chaudhry were used by the establishment to break the PTI and weaken him politically before the February 8 elections.He said his conviction before the polls was designed to demoralise the PTI vote, adding that both he and his wife were jailed for long in fabricated cases. Bushra Bibi, in her written response, also rejected the allegations, saying she had never received, deposited, or influenced the evaluation of any Toshakhana gift.
\nAs a \u201cparda-observing lady,\u201d she said, she never interacted with officials of the PM Office or Toshakhana. She said NAB was falsely dragging her into the matter only because she is Khan\u2019s wife. She accused witnesses of being planted by political rivals. \u201cInam Shah falsely deposed against me as he was the man of Jehangir Tareen and Awn Chaudhry,\u201d she claimed, recalling how both had been involved in separate cases against the PTI leadership.
\nBushra reminded that both she and Khan had already been convicted in another case and sentenced to 14 years, but the Islamabad High Court suspended the sentence on the very first hearing. The former first lady also linked the case to the sugar scam fallout, alleging that Tareen, once close to Khan, turned into a bitter rival after being sidelined and later formed IPP with the support of the establishment.
\nAs the accountability court is now close to announcing its verdict, PTI circles see the Toshakhana-2 trial as another chapter in what they describe as a systematic campaign to remove Imran Khan and his party from the political landscape. \u2014 DNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Duo accuses NAB of acting establishment and and their opponents\u2019 tool to keep them out of political arena ISLAMABAD As the Toshakhana-2 reference moves towards its final stages, PTI founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have accused the NAB of acting as a tool of the establishment and their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-504815","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n