Court sentences former PM to 14 years in university case

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan was this week sentenced to 14 years in prison, and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to seven years on charges of corrupt practices in the Al-Qadir University case. In its judgement on 17 January, the Accountability Court in Pakistan also ordered the land and assets of the university to be taken into government custody.

Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar said at a press conference: “The government will not abolish this university [but] will take custody and run it like any other university.”

Khan, a popular cricketer-turned politician, was ousted from power through a vote of no confidence in April 2022. He claims that the charges against him, including those in the Al-Qadir University case, were fabricated to keep him out of power.

Al-Qadir University is situated in Punjab Province, 80 km north of the capital, Islamabad, and has around 200 students. The university claims that 95% of the student body are scholarship beneficiaries.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, a political opponent of Khan, said during a scholarship award ceremony at the University of Okara on the same day as the court order that handed the university to the government: “Al-Qadir University is now under my control, and scholarships would also be given to its students.”

However, the university is still not accredited by the Punjab Higher Education Department and cannot issue its own degrees. It is currently affiliated with Government College, University of Lahore.

A government takeover of the university would effectively turn the non-profit, private institution founded by Khan into a public one once all appeals against the judgement are heard.

Speaking on behalf of Khan, lawyer Faisal Chaudhary told the media Khan would not let the university fall into the hands of the ruling Sharif family, a reference to the Punjab chief minister and her uncle Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of the country.

Denying the charges against Khan, his lawyers announced they would challenge the verdict in the higher courts. Choudhary told University World News: “There is no corruption in this case. There is no proof that Imran Khan or his wife received any bribes. We will expose this verdict, as this is a black day and a ‘murder’ of justice.”

Fines of PKR1 million (US$3,600) and PKR0.5 million were imposed by the court on Khan and his wife, respectively. Following the verdict announced by Judge Nasir Javed Rana at the court in Rawalpindi, Busra Bibi was taken into police custody at the courtroom. Khan was already under arrest related to this and other cases.

University land controversy

As soon as the verdict was announced, members of parliament of the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party founded by Khan staged a demonstration outside parliament, calling for Khan’s immediate release, saying the Al-Qadir University case was politically motivated.

Sheikh Waqas Akram, PTI central information secretary and a member of the National Assembly, told ARY News TV: “This is a politically motivated case, and it will be challenged in the Islamabad High Court. Khan should have been acquitted instead of awarding a sentence to him. Establishing a university is not a crime.”

The Al-Qadir University case is linked with a December 2019 £190 million (US$235 million) out-of-court settlement between the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Pakistani real estate tycoon Malik Riaz.

The money seized by the NCA – approximately PKR60 billion at the currency exchange rate at the time — was to be handed over to the Pakistan government.

However, according to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the country’s apex anti-corruption agency, and the prosecutor in the case, the funds sent to Pakistan in 2022 were transferred into an account set up to receive instalments from Riaz to cover an earlier fine of PKR460 billion. That fine was imposed on Riaz by the Pakistan Supreme Court in March 2019 in a land-grab case pertaining to Bahria Town Karachi.

According to the prosecution, the money received from the UK was adjusted against the fine. The adjustment was made possible by a cabinet decision directed by Khan, who was prime minister at the time. In return, Khan and his wife were permitted to take over land owned by Riaz in the name of the university via a trust, with Khan and Bibi as trustees.

Shahzad Shaukat, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, told University World News: “This university was established when Imran Khan was prime minister, and his party [was also] in government in Punjab province, where Al-Qadir University is situated.

“He [Khan] could have established such a university under his federal [government] or the provincial government. It is strange that land was taken from a business tycoon and its construction was also funded by him [Riaz] whose money was seized in the United Kingdom.”

Shibli Faraz, leader of the opposition in Pakistan’s Senate, the upper house of the parliament, told University World News that Khan “set up this university for promoting studies about the life of the Prophet of Islam. He also set up Namal University in Mianwali and a cancer hospital in Lahore. This is a black day that he has been sentenced for setting up a university”.

He said: “Al-Qadir University was set up under a trust, and neither Khan nor his wife got this land in their own name.”

Reactions to verdict

Government ministers have welcomed the verdict. Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Geo News television: “This is very shameful that they call it a university. It was never a university but a sham name for committing fraud.”

Nazeer Tarar said: “It is unusual that a property tycoon gave vast land for a university, provided money for construction, and also provided furniture and fixtures. He [Riaz] does not have a history of funding universities in the country. It is directly linked to [the] settlement of money, and this was a bribe in the name of the university.”

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar told Express News TV: “The religion card is being played [with the claim] that the university was established for religious teachings. In fact, a sham trust was set up to receive land and money and diamond rings in bribery. This was a case of misuse of authority and corrupt practices. The verdict is on merit and as per law and rules”.

The NAB launched its inquiry into the Al-Qadir University Trust case in March 2023. It became a full investigation in April 2023. Following that, an attempt was made by law enforcers to arrest Khan on 9 May that year.

This resulted in violent protests across the country by Khan’s party and supporters. Khan was ordered to be released by the Supreme Court but was later re-arrested over riots and other cases in August 2023 and has been in prison since then.