Who to believe: Imran or his official trust record?

ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan’s claim of getting over 450 kanals of land as a donation in December 2018 from a business tycoon and launching the Al-Qadir Institute in May 2019 contradicts what the official record of the trust reflects.

If the official record and stamp papers are to be believed, then there is no mention of Al-Qadir Trust anywhere in the official record before 26th December 2019.

Al-Qadir trust record claims that the first-ever board meeting for the formation of the project was held in May 2019 in which Imran Khan was appointed chairman of the trust and a trustee along with three other trustees, Babar Awan, Bushra Khan and Zulfi Bukhari. However, the trust was registered on 26th December 2019 in the Islamabad Sub-registrar office by Babar Awan.

It is pertinent to mention here that the agreement of the NCA and the business tycoon involving 190 million pounds was taken up by Imran Khan’s cabinet on December 3- three weeks before the registration of the Al-Qadir trust, in which the main donor was the same tycoon.

According to the agreement between the donor and Bushra Khan on March 24, 2021, at the Bani Gala house of Imran Khan, the donor bought the land in April 2019 and transferred it to Zulfi Bukhari with the understanding that it will be later transferred to the trust once it comes into existence.

Interestingly, the donor has stated in the agreement that no funds for the trust were donated before March 2019. On Monday, explaining the whole case of Al-Qadir Trust on Twitter Space, Imran Khan said that the tycoon had come as a sponsor and donated the land in December 2018. Imran Khan further said that in May 2019 he did a groundbreaking ceremony of the trust while the agreement between the donor and National Crime Agency involving 190 million pounds came to the cabinet in December 2019.

Explaining it further, Khan said it was a secret agreement and the cabinet was given two options by the NCA. Either agree to the confidentiality of the agreement and deposit 190 million pounds in the Supreme Court’s account under a fine already imposed on the tycoon related to a project or contest and challenge the decision and prove that the money is laundered.

It is pertinent to mention here that Imran Khan also revealed that the tycoon wanted to deposit the money in the Supreme Court’s account.

However, Khan emphasized that the second option could take five to six years in British courts with millions of expenditures and that 190 million pounds could have never reached Pakistan. Therefore, the cabinet, on December 3, decided to transfer the money to the Supreme Court’s account thinking that this much money has never arrived in Pakistan before, said Imran Khan.

However, the documents of the Al-Qadir project and the donation agreement tell another story.

The first-ever meeting regarding the establishment of the Al-Qadir Trust took place on May 2019. In this meeting, it was decided that Imran Khan will be the chairperson of the trust and Babar Awan was tasked with submitting documents before the registering authority for the establishment of the trust. Bushra Khan and Zulfiqar Abbass Bukhari were also part of the meeting whose minutes are available with The News.

On 26th December 2019, a trust deed was registered by Babar Awan in the Sub Registrar's Office in Islamabad under the name of Al-Qadir University Project. The registered office was situated in House No. 3 Street No. 56, F-8/4 Islamabad. The settlor signed this deed of the trust on the date and place mentioned above before the witnesses- Imran Khan, Bushra Khan, Zulfiqar Abbasi Bukhari and Zaheer-ud-Din Babar Awan.

On 22 April 2020, Al Qadir Trust wrote to the Sub Registrar, District Court Islamabad, with the subject ‘Deletion of Names of Trustees’. “With reference to the trust deed registered on 26th of December 2019 at your office... it is submitted for your information and record that the following trustees have been dropped/ deleted from the trust: I) Mr Zaheer ud Din Babar Awan ii) Mr Zulfiqar Abbass Bukhari”.

On April 15, 2020, the trust deed of Al Qadir University Project was amended which read, “this trust deed is made at Islamabad on 25th of April 2020 by Mr Imran Khan, chairperson of Al Qadir Trust University Project R/o Banni Galla, Islamabad. This amended trust deed by Imran Khan himself again refers to the Al Qadir Trust deed registered on 26th of December 2019 and reads that the chairperson of the trust has decided to amend clause 12 of the previous trust deed and removed Babar Awan and Zulfiqar Abbass Bukhari from the trust. The office of the trust was also relocated to Bani Galla, the house of the chairperson of the trust. There are signatures of Imran Khan as executant at the end of this amended trust deed.

On January 22, 2021, Zulfi Bukhari transferred this land to Al Qadir Trust project. For the purpose of stamp duty, the value of the land was fixed at Rs. 243,972,300. The land was bought by the tycoon for Rs700 million.

The Acknowledgement of the Donation agreement which was signed between the donor and Bushra Khan on 24th March 2021 at the Banigala house disclosed that the land (approximately 460 kanal) was bought by the donor in April 2019 and transferred to Zulfiqar Abbass Bukhari as the trust was not created at that time.

The donor’s company further declared in the agreement that it has caused the land to be transferred from Zulfi Bukhari to the Trust on 22nd January 2021. This acknowledgement of donation (Agreement) is entered into on 24th day of March 2021 between the company and Al-Qadir Trust. The donor confirms that it purchased land for the purpose of the Al-Qadir university project Trust. The donor declares that it caused the land to be transferred from the name of sole proprietorship of Al-Qadir Trust university of Mr Zulfi Bukhari to the Trust on January 22, 2021.

In the agreement, the donor agreed to construct building facilities for the Al-Qadir trust project. The donor confirmed in the agreement that it had already constructed a portion of the building.

The donor further confirms in the agreement that it will bear all expenses for establishing and running of the proposed Al-Qadir university. The donor also confirms that it will contribute funds to the trust for setting up and running the Al-Qadir project. The trust accepted and acknowledged the contribution of the donor in the form of land, building, facilities and infrastructure constructed or to be constructed.

In declaration of the donation, the donor confirmed that it has already paid the sale price of Rs700 million for the land to the owners with the sole intention of giving the same as charity to the trust. The donor further declares that the land was initially purchased and mutations in April 2019 in the name of Al Qadir Trust through Syed Zulfiqar Abbass Bukhari because the trust was under the process of creation at the time of purchase which has now been registered vide Trust Deed dated 26-12-2019 as amended on 10-07-2020.

The company further declares in the agreement that it has caused the land to be transferred from Zulfi Bukhari to the Trust on 22nd January 2021.

On March 2, 2022, a trust deed titling ‘Endowment Fund for Al-Qadir Institute” was registered in the office of the sub registrar Sohawa. The name of the trustees in this deed are “Bushra Khan, Farhat Shahzadi and Dr Arif Nazeer Butt while the author of this deed is Imran Khan.