Fresh witness statements have come to light in relation to the Toshakhana-2 case on a Bulgari jewellery set against PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, alleging that the appraiser was pressured into undervaluing the ornaments.
The development comes three days after a special judge central completed[1] the cross-examination of the two key witnesses, an appraiser named Sohaib Abbasi and the former prime minister’s personal secretary, Inamullah Shah, in an over six-hour-long proceeding inside Adiala Jail.
The case[2] pertains to Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi retaining an expensive Bulgari jewellery set gifted by the Saudi royal family — including a necklace, earrings, bracelets, and rings — at a low price, causing significant loss to the exchequer.
One of the witnesses, Sohaib Abbasi, confessed to undervaluing the Bulgari set at Rs5 million. He did so under the pressure of Imran Khan’s former personal secretary, Inamullah Shah, he claimed. Shah is the other key witness who has testified in the case.
In his testimony, Abbasi said that he was “handed over the responsibility of the assessment of the set on May 25, 2022 by the Section Officer of [the] Cabinet Division.”
Abbasi went on to say that Shah visited him and told him “that the two accused facing trial want to retain the jewellery set”, demanding that the assessment should be upto Rs5m.
Abbasi alleged that he was told by Shah that he would be blacklisted from every government department if he refused to cooperate, so he undervalued the jewellery set and submitted a false report.
Abbasi said that he joined the investigation on May 23, 2024 and requested a pardon in the case for undervaluing the jewellery set.
Shah confirmed the allegation, stating that, “I asked Sohaib Abbasi to make [an] undervalued assessment (of the set) and he agreed to that,” adding that he remained in Abbasi’s office for 30-45 minutes during his visit for the jewellery set under question.
The copies of both testimonies are available with Dawn.com.
Shah also told the court that he was receiving double salaries while working for PTI and the government at the same time. In his testimony, he said, “I was appointed Comptroller of the PM house [from] 2019 to 2021,” but then Shah reveals that, “In that very time, I was also receiving salary additionally from PTI Central Secretariat.”
As per Shah’s testimony, he was removed from his post in the same year, not because of receiving double salary, but “due to Bushra Bibi’s disapproval”. Shah believed that Bushra Bibi suspected Shah’s brother of having close ties with fomrer PTI leader Jahangir Tareen.
In July last year, an Islamabad court prohibited[3] the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from pursuing the Toshakhana reference against Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, transferring the case to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) court.
The case was transferred to a Special Judge Central, who will also decide on Imran and Bushra Bibi’s bail applications.
Imran Khan, imprisoned since August 2023, is currently serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case, along with his wife. He also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the protests of May 9, 2023.