Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment, while his wife, Bushra Bibi, received a seven-year sentence in a high-profile land corruption case. The verdict, marking one of the largest cases of financial wrongdoing against Khan, was delivered by an anti-graft court within the prison in Rawalpindi, where Khan has been detained since August 2023.
The case centers around allegations that Khan and his wife received land worth up to 7 billion rupees (approximately $25.12 million) as a bribe during his tenure as Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022. The land was purportedly gifted by a real estate developer in exchange for illegal favors. The defense team argued that the land was donated for charitable purposes through a trust created in 2018, but the court ruled otherwise.
Bushra Bibi, who had previously been released on bail in October 2023 in a separate case, was taken into custody following the announcement of the verdict.
Khan, who has been implicated in multiple cases since his removal from office in 2022, faces several other charges. In one case, he was accused of unlawfully selling state gifts worth over 140 million rupees, received during his premiership, for personal profit. He and Bushra Bibi have denied these allegations, maintaining their innocence. Despite being convicted in similar cases earlier, their sentences had been suspended, and the matter remains under legal scrutiny.
Khan is also facing charges related to abetting violence following his arrest in May 2023. These charges, which fall under anti-terrorism laws, have already led to convictions for several of his supporters. Additionally, he has been accused of making public a classified cable from Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington in 2022. Khan was acquitted of this charge in June.
Another controversial accusation involved claims that Khan and Bushra Bibi violated Islamic law by failing to observe the mandated waiting period between Bibi’s divorce and their marriage in 2018. They were acquitted of this charge in July.
Imran Khan’s legal battles have placed him at the center of political and judicial controversies, with his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party continuing to defend him and reject the accusations as politically motivated.
