RAWALPINDI:
In a significant development in the Toshakhana-2 case involving a Bulgari jewellery set allegedly retained by PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, two key witnesses have testified that the appraiser was pressured into undervaluing the ornaments.
The case centres on an expensive set of jewellery — a necklace, earrings, bracelets, and rings — gifted by the Saudi royal family to the former prime minister. According to investigators, the set was assessed at an artificially low price, enabling Khan and his wife to purchase it at a fraction of its actual worth, thereby causing a considerable loss to the national exchequer.
The latest revelations came three days after a Special Judge Central concluded the cross-examination of the two witnesses, appraiser Sohaib Abbasi and Imran Khan’s former personal secretary, Inamullah Shah.
The proceedings, held inside Adiala Jail, stretched over six hours.
Abbasi told the court that he was assigned the responsibility of valuing the Bulgari set on May 25, 2022, by the Cabinet Division.
He claimed that Shah later visited him and conveyed that the accused wanted to retain the set, instructing him to fix the valuation at no more than Rs5 million. According to Abbasi, Shah warned that refusal would result in his blacklisting from government departments.
Under pressure, he said, he undervalued the set and filed a false assessment report.
Abbasi admitted during testimony that he joined the investigation on May 23, 2024, and sought a pardon for his role in the undervaluation.
Shah, in his own testimony, confirmed Abbasi’s account. He told the court: “I asked Sohaib Abbasi to make an undervalued assessment of the set, and he agreed.”
He added that he remained in Abbasi’s office for 30 to 45 minutes during the process.
Shah further disclosed that he had been drawing double salaries while serving both the PTI and the government. He explained that from 2019 to 2021, he held the post of Comptroller at the Prime Minister’s House while also receiving a salary from the PTI Central Secretariat.
He was eventually removed from his official post, not due to the dual salaries, but because of Bushra Bibi’s disapproval. According to him, she suspected that Shah’s brother had close ties with estranged PTI leader Jahangir Tareen.
The case has seen multiple legal turns. In July 2023, an Islamabad court barred the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from pursuing the Toshakhana reference against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, transferring the matter to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). It is now before a Special Judge Central, who is also tasked with deciding the bail applications of Khan and his wife.
