Author: News Desk

Days after former prime minister (PM) Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case against them, senior journalist and analyst Dr Moeed Pirzada has alleged ‘foul play’ at the hands of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chief minister (CM) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) loyalist Ali Amin Gandapur.

Former premier Khan and his wife were on Friday sentenced to 14 years and seven years in prison, respectively, as Judge Nasir Javed Rana announced the much-delayed verdict in the case pertaining to misappropriation of funds recovered by the United Kingdom’s (UK) National Crime Agency (NCA).

According to reporters present at the makeshift courtroom in Adiala Jail when the verdict was announced, Khan, who was “prepared for a conviction”, seemed uneasy over his wife’s sentencing that “came as a surprise”.

Reacting to eyewitness accounts of Khan’s reaction to the verdict, journalist Moeed Pirzada has said that Bushra’s conviction caught Khan off guard, going on to allege that it was a result of KP CM Gandapur using his influence to get rid of the former first lady.

“I have verified from multiple sources that this is actually what happened,” Pirzada said in a video, claiming that Khan had been conveyed the conditions of an alleged deal to avoid conviction in said case, but he also had the “assurance” that his wife won’t be sentenced.

“According to my source, KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur was at the helm in getting her [Bushra] sentenced. He wanted her to get locked up… away from limelight, because she was causing him headaches.”

He went on to claim that while all this put an end to speculations regarding Bushra Bibi’s alleged involvement with the establishment, the reason behind Gandapur’s alleged drastic step was the former first lady repeatedly challenging him and his decision-making.

“Their rift was also witnessed during the PTI’s November march on Islamabad when Bushra Bibi refused to call off or redirect the rallies until she had spoken to Imran Khan. At the protests, CM Gandapur’s guards were also seen using foul language for Bushra Bibi, which showed what Gandapur thought of her,” he claimed, adding that the KP chief executive believes he can control the province’s politics better in Bushra’s absence.

Pirzada went on to say that the PTI should initiate discussion to address the alleged rift and disclose the details of the situation.

It merits a mention that political pundits have long been claiming cracks within the PTI in jailed Imran Khan’s absence, saying that the party had divided into groups led by different leaders, including Khan’s family.

The government also claims that at least one of said groups want to keep the ousted former premier in jail so as to hijack the party.

Weeks after Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar’s concerns hinted at possible dissent within the quarters of the Supreme Court (SC), more judges of the apex court have openly expressed discontentment in a letter to the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP).

As per the details, Justice Shah, Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi have written to the top judge, saying they were “surprised and disturbed” that their cases were not fixed for hearing on Monday despite a judicial order being issued in this regard last week.

“On 16.1.2025, the Bench stood reconstituted and one of the members (Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, J.) being the author of the impugned judgment, when he was at the High Court of Sindh, could not hear the matter. Therefore, we directed the office to fix the case before the earlier bench on Monday, the 20th January, 2025 at 1:00 pm,” read the letter.

It went on to say that on Monday, they were informed that the bunch of cases had not been fixed.

“We have also been informed that the matter was taken up by the Committee constituted under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 (“Committee”) on 17 January 2025 at 12 noon. One of us (Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah), being a member of the Committee, verbally communicated to the Chair of the Committee that as he has passed the judicial order, his view is on the record which may be considered as it is and he need not be personally present in the meeting.”

“We are surprised and disturbed that inspite of a judicial order, the cases have not been fixed for hearing before any bench today i.e. 20.01.2025 It is noted with concern that a three member bench had already been constituted to hear the case by the Committee which heard the case on 13.01.2025. On 16.01.2025 the new Bench could not hear the case due to the reason explained above and the Court simply directed that the earlier Bench, constituted by the Committee, to hear the matter on 20.01.2025 being part heard, In this background there was firstly no need for the Committee to take up the matter as the office was to simply fix the case before the earlier bench as it was a part heard matter. Even if the Committee took up the matter, it could have once again constituted the same Bench as constituted earlier and as mentioned in the judicial order and fix the case for 20.01.2025. Or the Committee could have reconstituted the Bench by a third member instead of Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi,” read the letter.

The judges went on to say that the committee, in any case, could not ignore the dictate of a judicial order and was bound to fix the case for hearing.

“We are not aware of the order passed by the Committee and nothing has been communicated to us. We have also noticed that the cause list of our Bench for the entire week has been changed where all the cases fixed by the Court has been removed from the cause list without there being any order passed to this effect,” it added.

The letter expressed concern over how the failure to comply with a judicial order “undermined the institution’s integrity” and defied the law against administrative orders taking away jurisdiction of the bench concerned. “It also raises serious concerns about the independence of the Benches,” it said, adding that such non-compliance constituted as contempt of court while eroding public confidence in the judiciary.

The judges also went on to demand compliance with the January 16 judicial order to “maintain independence, transparency, comity of judges, and smooth functioning of the court”.

Author and ex-head of National Commission for Human Development Dr Naseem Ashraf has claimed that United States (US) President Bill Clinton saved former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif from death penalty during military ruler Pervez Mushrraf’s regime.

In his upcoming book ‘Ring Side’, Dr Ashraf claimed that the US State Department had advised President Clinton against visiting Pakistan, however, he decided to visit nonetheless to prevent the execution of the ousted premier.

On his short trip, the former US president held a secret meeting with then-chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Irshad Hassan Khan for assurance that Nawaz would not be hanged, Dr Ashraf claimed in the book published in Urdu under the title ‘Maidan-e-Amal’.

He revealed that Clinton was seen heading to the restroom during a luncheon hosted by Musharraf, and moments later, ex-CJP Irshad also went in. The meeting, he added, lasted for about five minutes during which President Clinton asked the then-CJP whether Nawaz would be sentenced to death.

To this, Justice Hassan assured him that it would not happen, Dr Ashraf wrote.

He said that Pakistanis living in the US were advocates of democracy and patriotic citizens who supported Pakistan during challenging times. This is why, Dr Ashraf wrote, when Nawaz was ousted, protests were held for his reinstatement, advertisements were placed in newspapers and letters were written to members of Congress and the US president, which eventually prompted Clinton’s visit.

On Pakistan-US relations, Dr Ashraf said that the events of September 11 shook the US, which is why it targeted Afghanistan. 

Nonetheless, he acknowledged that President Musharraf assured President George W Bush of full cooperation, accepting five out of seven demands. Had Pakistan not complied, it would have faced economic ruin, detrimental to national security.

In his book, he also wrote about former PM Imran Khan’s 2019 visit to the US, terming it “successful”. He said it strengthened Pakistan-US relations. 

Dr Ashraf also recounted a meeting he had with former Indian PM Manmohan Singh during General Musharraf’s visit to India, during which Singh confirmed that he had sent two tons of gold to the Bank of England to secure a loan, as he was not in favour of going to the IMF. From the loan obtained from the Bank of England, Dr Singh initiated a new economic policy in India, he wrote. 

During his stint as the chief of the National Commission for Human Development, Dr Ashraf said he faced numerous challenges, even contemplating resignation at one point. The programme’s success can be gauged by the fact that Tony Blair’s son, Nicholas Blair, came to Pakistan specifically for an internship.