Al-Qadir Trust Case: Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, was arrested on Tuesday i.e. May 09 by Rangers in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust Case while attending two court hearings at the Islamabad High Court. The arrest occurred on the court premises.
Following Imran Khan's arrest, the chief justice of the high court, Aamer Farooq, instructed the Islamabad police chief, the secretary of the interior ministry, and the additional attorney general to appear before the court within 15 minutes and provide an explanation regarding the former PM's arrest and the case for which he was detained.
Imran Khan's arrest occurred a day after the Pakistani military denied his accusations against a senior intelligence officer's involvement in an assassination attempt against him.
Despite the denial, Khan reiterated his allegations in a video message released a few hours prior to his arrest on Tuesday.
Imran Khan, along with his wife Bushra Bibi and aides Zulfiqar Bukhari and Babar Awan, established the Al-Qadir Project Trust with the purpose of establishing the Al-Qadir University in Sohawa Tehsil, located in Punjab's Jhelum district, to provide high-quality education.
The official address of the trust mentioned in the documents is "Bani Gala House, Islamabad".
In 2019, Bushra Bibi signed a memorandum with Bahria Town, a private real estate firm, to secure donations for the trust.
As a result of this agreement, the Al-Qadir Project Trust received 458 kanals, 4 marlas, and 58 square feet of land from Bahria Town.
According to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, out of the 458 kanals of land donated to the Al-Qadir Project Trust, Imran Khan allegedly allocated and transferred 240 kanals of land to Farah Gogi, a close friend of Bushra Bibi.
Sanaullah further alleged that Khan undervalued the donated land, and received his portion of the shares under the guise of the university's ownership. He also claimed that the former PM attempted to conceal this issue.
Imran Khan was accused by Pakistan’s former Finance Minister Miftah Ismail of giving approximately 190 million pounds to real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, who eventually had to hand over this amount to British authorities to resolve an inquiry into whether the money was obtained from any illegal activity.
A trust, consisting of Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, and Farah Gogi as members, received several hundred acres of land as a donation from real estate tycoon Malik Riaz.
Critics have pointed out that the trust behind the under-construction Al-Qadir University, whose chairperson is Imran Khan, received millions in the name of donations in 2021.
The university was inaugurated on May 5, 2019, and was meant to be a trust. However, the scandal came to light when Pakistani media reported that the trust received 180 million Pakistani rupees, while expenses were shown to be only 8.52 million Pakistani rupees.
The media also questioned why the institute was charging students when it was supposed to be a trust.
