Bureau Chief Islamabad ** During today’s hearing at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Athar Minallah conducted a rigorous examination of Imran Khan’s foreign funding case, leaving the PTI chairman’s legal team struggling to provide satisfactory answers.
The proceedings began with Justice Minallah questioning the admissibility of the case, to which Imran Khan’s lawyer argued that collecting foreign donations for a charity hospital wasn’t prohibited by the Constitution. However, the judge quickly shifted focus to whether the case involved illegal fund receipts rather than legitimate donations.
A significant portion of the hearing revolved around financial irregularities. The court revealed that between 2013-2018, substantial foreign donations – including $2.6 million from the US, $2.963 million from Israel, $1.6 million from the UK, and $200,000 from India – were deposited directly into Imran Khan’s personal accounts rather than hospital accounts. The defense failed to adequately explain why these funds weren’t routed through proper institutional channels.
The court also uncovered that Shaukat Khanum Hospital hadn’t been audited since 2010, with PTI having obtained stay orders to prevent government-mandated audits. When pressed for an explanation, Khan’s lawyer claimed he had been “busy,” a justification that drew skepticism from the bench.
Justice Minallah outlined four apparent violations: illegal fundraising under the guise of hospital operations, receiving funds from hostile states, diverting charity funds to personal accounts, and deliberately obstructing financial audits. The PTI legal team’s inability to counter these allegations was notable, with the lawyer frequently falling silent or requesting more time to consult.
The hearing concluded without resolution, but the intense scrutiny and unanswered questions have significantly increased pressure on Imran Khan to account for these financial transactions. The case will continue, with the court maintaining its firm stance on requiring clear explanations for the alleged irregularities.
