The year 2025 did not prove to be a good year for Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi. The founder of PTI and his wife had not yet recovered from the shock of the sentence handed down by the military court of their patron General (retd) Faiz Hameed. Imran Khan and his wife received a sentence of 17 years each and a fine of Rs 16 million in the Toshakhana 2 cases. This sentence was pronounced by the Special Judge of the Accountability Court of Islamabad, Central Shahrukh Arjumand, in Adiala Jail and said in his verdict that “due to old age of the founder of PTI and Bushra Bibi being a woman, they were given the least punishment.” Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were accused of being gifted a valuable Bulgari jewelry set by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2021. The jewelry set made of pink diamonds and gold included a bracelet, necklace, ring and earrings, worth a total of over Rs 75 million, but the PTI founder and spouse used their influence to get the jewelry set undervalued from a private firm and get estimate of Rs 5.9 million. The trial of the Toshakhana 2 cases continued for almost a year in Adiala Jail, during which more than 80 hearings were held and there were a total of 21 accused in the case, while the statements of 18 witnesses were recorded and cross-examined. The sad part is that the PTI has given the court decision a shade of personal revenge and called it a political victimization.
During his four and a half year reign, Imran Khan received 112 valuable gifts from heads of different countries, including Chopard, Rolex watches, gold and diamond-studded jewelry, gold pens, diamond-studded cufflinks, gold Kalashnikovs and other very valuable gifts. But instead of storing these valuable gifts in the Tosha Khana, Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi kept them with them, while the valuation committee formed by the Prime Minister estimated the value of the gifts worth crores of rupees to be less than the actual market value. Thus, Imran Khan and his wife paid only Rs 40 million and took all the gifts to Bani Gala. The valuable gifts given to Imran Khan by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also included a very expensive Chopard watch made of diamonds and gold. The watch, which depicts the Kaaba, was worth about $2 million (Rs. 575 million), but on his return home, Imran Khan gave it to his wife Bushra Bibi instead of depositing it in the Tosha Khana. Later, when the watch was sent to the Chopard showroom in Dubai for sale, the company contacted the office of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Thus, the matter was brought to the attention of Saudi Crown Prince, who was shocked that the watch he had gifted to the Prime Minister of his brother country did not appreciate the gift and sold it. It should be noted that in the Tosha Khana 1 case of the Chopard watch, PTI founder Imran Khan has been sentenced to 3 years in prison and a fine of Rs. 100,000 on charges of corrupt practices and failure to declare gifts in assets. The conviction in the Toshakhana cases is a major political setback for former Prime Minister Imran Khan, while the 190 million pound Qadir Trust case and the foreign funding case are also raising questions about the political future of the PTI founder.
Imran Khan’s long-time aide Abdul Aleem Khan has also confirmed the corruption allegations against the PTI founder and revealed that during the PTI regime, Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi was gifted a very expensive diamond set by a prominent builder and when the then DG ISI and current Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir brought this matter to the notice of Imran Khan, Imran Khan removed Asim Munir from his post for exposing his wife’s corruption, saying that he had crossed a red line.
The PTI founder came to power with a grandiose narrative of ending corruption and nature had also provided him with a rare opportunity to put his narrative into practice. If Imran Khan had remained steadfast in his statement against corruption, he would have been one of the most popular leaders in Pakistan today. Unfortunately, during his tenure, the lust for wealth and corruption not only negated his claims, but also humiliated him and Bushra Bibi, and darkened Imran Khan’s stature and political future. Thus, Imran Khan, once given the title of “Sadiq and Amin” by Baba Rahmat’s court after the convictions in the Tosha Khana cases, is no longer Sadiq and Amin.
