IHC grants post-arrest bail to Bushra Bibi in new Toshakhana case

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday accepted the post-arrest bail plea of Bushra Bibi, former first lady and wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, in the new Toshakhana case.

The former first lady’s bail plea was accepted against Rs1 million surety bonds during the hearing conducted by Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.

The PTI founder’s wife had moved the IHC on October 3 seeking bail in the jewellery set case. The petition, filed via Advocate Yousaf Chaudhry, contended that the petitioner was a housewife and the allegations against her were baseless.

It added that the investigation was not transparent and the case was aimed at keeping the petitioner in jail. It said that the same case was being run with different angles.

Previously, a trial court had terminated the post-arrest bail of the former first lady on September 30.

The case pertains to a reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the couple in August.

It involves a jewellery set gifted to Bushra by the Saudi crown prince when Khan was the prime minister of the country from 2018 to 2022. 

The jewellery set — comprising a ring, bracelet, necklace a pair of earrings — was gifted to the former first lady on her visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2021, and the duo kept it illegally, alleges the NAB’s reference.

During the hearing today, the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) prosecutor Umair Majeed said that the jewellery set in the said case was priced while the suspects were in possession of it. However, he added, the market value of a jewellery item could not be determined until it was physically available.

Complaining that the state was not given an opportunity to estimate the price of jewellery set correctly, the FIA prosecutor said that the said item should be placed in an auction and should be priced accordingly.