RAWALPINDI: The repeatedly postponed judgment in the £190 million case against PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi will be announced on Monday (today), confirmed the former prime minister's counsel on Sunday. Accountability court Judge Nasir Javed Rana would announce the reserved judgment in the high-profile case at a makeshift court in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail at 11am. PTI founder's lawyer, Khalid Yousuf Chaudhry, confirmed the development, citing court staff, while the prosecution team from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is also said to have been informed. The verdict was previously scheduled to be announced on the 6th of this month; however, it was prorogued as the judge was on leave. This was the second time the verdict in the Al-Qadir Trust case, reserved on December 18, was postponed after being scheduled for December 23, 2024. The former prime minister along with his wife, Bushra and others have been accused by the NAB of causing a loss of £190 million to the national exchequer via a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon. The said case is part of the plethora of legal challenges faced by the incarcerated PTI founder who has been behind bars for more than one year after he was sentenced in Toshakhana case-I. Ahead of the verdict, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif expressed hope that "justice will prevail" as an accountability court was set to announce its judgment tomorrow. Asif, addressing a press conference in Sialkot earlier today, said that while accusations had been made against past rulers, what transpired during the PTI's government was "unprecedented". He asked the national media to investigate whether Al-Qadir Trust was a university or not. "We hope that a verdict will be announced tomorrow and justice will be served," he added. Reacting to Asif's press conference, PTI leader Asad Qaiser asserted that the government representatives' statements suggested they were already aware of the 'predetermined verdict' in the Al-Qadir Trust case. "The entire world knows that Al-Qadir Trust is a welfare institution," said Qaiser in a statement today. Defending the jailed PTI founder, he stated that it was a non-profit organisation from which the former premier did not gain any personal benefit. He alleged, "Neither was a transparent trial conducted in the case, nor was any solid evidence presented against the PTI founder." The former National Assembly speaker described it as a "political witch-hunt." "Justice cannot be expected when rulers politicise the Supreme Court to secure desired verdicts," he added. The anti-graft watchdog had filed the reference against Khan, Bushra, and others in December 2023 over the purported settlement. As per the charges of the case, Khan and other accused allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion — £190 million at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government as part of the agreement with a property tycoon. Subsequently, the then-prime minister got approval for the settlement with the UK crime agency from his cabinet on December 3, 2019, without disclosing the details of the confidential agreement. It was decided that the money would be submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon. According to NAB officials, the PTI founder and his wife obtained land worth billions of rupees from the property tycoon, to build an educational institute, in return for striking a deal to give legal cover to the property tycoon’s black money received from the UK crime agency. Later, the Al-Qadir Trust was established in Islamabad a few weeks after the PTI-led government approved the agreement with the property tycoon. The accountability watchdog arrested the PTI founder on November 13 last year in connection with the said case. NAB then interrogated Khan and Bushra for 17 days in the Adiala Jail. The trial began after filing of the NAB reference on December 1, 2023. On 27 February 2024, charges were formally filed against the couple. Notable witnesses against the PTI founder included his former cabinet member Pervez Khattak, former federal minister Zubaida Jalal, ex-principal secretary Azam Khan, and the chief financial officer of the Al-Qadir University. The court also declared six co-accused, including Zulfi Bukhari, Farhat Shahzadi, Mirza Shahzad Akbar and Zia-ul-Mustafa Nasim, as absconders, ordering the freezing of their assets and bank accounts. During the proceedings, the Islamabad High Court granted bail to the disqualified premier in the £190 million reference, while the trial court approved pre-arrest bail for Bushra. The PTI founder-chairman submitted a list of 16 witnesses to the court, but the request to summon them was rejected. Over the course of the case, four judges were replaced with Judge Muhammad Bashir, Judge Nasir Javed Rana, Judge Muhammad Ali Warraich, and then again Judge Rana presiding over the hearings.