January 17, 2025: Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison by an anti-corruption court in Rawalpindi. The verdict, delivered on Friday, relates to a high-profile land corruption case tied to the Al-Qadir Trust, one of the largest financial wrongdoing cases involving Khan.

The court session, held in a makeshift courtroom within the Adiala Jail, where Khan has been incarcerated since August 2023, was presided over by Judge Nasir Javed Rana. The sentencing was delivered after several delays, the latest of which occurred just four days earlier, on January 13.

The case, filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in December 2023, accuses Khan (72), his wife Bushra Bibi (50), and six others of causing a loss of approximately 190 million pounds (PKR 50 billion) to Pakistan's national treasury. While Khan and Bibi are facing prosecution, other key suspects, including a property tycoon, remain outside the country.

At the heart of the case is an allegation involving the misuse of funds returned to Pakistan by the UK's National Crime Agency as part of a settlement with the property tycoon. These funds were originally intended for the national treasury but are accused of being diverted for personal gain, including the acquisition of land for Al-Qadir University in Jhelum. Bibi, a trustee of the Al-Qadir Trust, is specifically accused of benefiting from this transaction, which reportedly involved the purchase of 458 kanals of land for the university's construction.

The case has sparked significant controversy, with supporters of Khan and his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), decrying the verdict as politically motivated. However, the court's ruling marks a major development in the legal challenges faced by the former Prime Minister.