There has been a testimony in the case of the incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan against the Toshakhana reference that the specification list of the jewellery item was not given to the investigating officer (IO) of the matter.
The accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir was present at the Adiala Jail on Saturday to hear the case of the former premier in relation to the Toshakhana reference.
Two witnesses were presented before the court during the hearing and both recorded their testimonies. However, the lawyers cross-examined one of the witnesses involved in determining the value of the expensive gift set and bracelet watch that was given to the Toshakhanas to ascertain their market value.
According to the witness who gave evidence in the case, the Pakistani Consul General in Dubai had approached his company seeking to conduct an estimation of the jewellery set, the bracelet watch, and other components of the jewellery set.
His detail was that he was assigned the task of doing a market research for the jewelry articles which he completed and submitted to the consul’s office in Dubai a report that was based on his search for market value.
During his examination of the jewelry set in his testimony, the witness stated that it was estimated at 19.992 million dollars in value.
A witness informed the court that diamond experts and jewellery manufacturers had been contacted as part of the investigation. He also added that in the process of preparing the estimation report, a comprehensive market survey was conducted along with a market analysis.
The investigation officer (IO) didn’t receive the specification list for the article, however, he admitted that the IO was not provided with a copy of the list.
It was also brought to the attention of the defense lawyer that there was a flaw in the estimation report in that the physical weight of the diamond was referred to as “gramme(s)” rather than “carat(s)”. There was a clerical error, according to the witness.
The defence lawyer, during cross-examination, questioned the credibility of the entire process by which gifts acquired by the PTI founder from the Toshakhana were approximated by the court.
Counsel asked if the consul general had received a copy of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) report which was prepared by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). As far as the witness was concerned, the claim was denied.
Furthermore, in the lawyer’s view, the IO should be given the estimation report upon completion of the market survey in order to understand the reasons for not providing it to the IO.
In addition to this, the witness also denied any allegations of fraud against the estimation process. It must be noted, however, that he also acknowledged that the input documents provided by the diamond expert had not been turned over to the IO as well.
A further question was asked by the witness and he replied that the monetary value of diamonds cannot be calculated on the basis of their colour or photographs but rather based on their specifications.
There was an unnecessary delay in the hearing of the accountability court after the lawyer finished his cross-examination.
According to NAB, Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were indicted in the Toshakhana reference that had been filed against them by the accountability court on January 9.
As part of the decision, the former prime minister attended a hearing in Adiala prison, where he is currently being held over the alleged corruption charges against him.
The anti-graft watchdog’s special prosecution team, which consists of five members, reviewed the reference against the duo and decided to pursue them.
A judge of the accountability court had heard the cases of Toshakhana and £190 million in the prison as part of the hearings for the court of accountability.
That news provided by timenews.
+ There are no comments
Add yours