PTI makes Al-Qadir trust deed public

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has made public the Al-Qadir Trust Deed and said Imran Khan had no role whatsoever in this context.

Imran’s lawyer Intezar Hussain Panjutha emphatically declared during a news conference on Thursday that the PTI chairman had no role in the Al-Qadir Trust and that was why it had been decided to make the Al-Qadir Trust Deed public on his instructions. The deed was presented for registration by Imran Khan on July 10, 2020 before the joint sub-registrar, Islamabad.

The former prime minister’s counsel said the documents were being brought before the media under the direction of Imran to keep the facts in front of the nation regarding the “false case” made against him. He explained that the Al-Qadir University Project Trust was not set up for personal gains, as both Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi were the Board of Trustees.

Panjutha said that Bushra Bibi’s role was only as a trustee, because the Al-Qadir Trust was being governed by its board and no one did any interference in its affairs, adding that whatever decisions were taken pertaining to running the institution were made by the board of trustees.

He continued that the Al-Qadir Trust was also being governed in the style of Shaukat Khanum and NUML University, as the PTI chairman did not have any role in it. He added that the land of Al-Qadir Trust was not for personal gain either, as Imran established a religious and scientific educational institution, wherein quality education would be provided to all sections of the society regardless of caste, creed, race, religion or linguistic standing under one roof.

The lawyer stated that the aims and objectives of the trust were to establish the AI-Qadir University in various disciplines, including Islamic studies and sciences. He pointed out that it was clearly written in the trust deed that Imran or his wife could not get any financial benefit from the trust while false, fabricated and politically motivated cases were filed against them only to damage their reputation.

He noted, “The trustees shall not be entitled to receive any remuneration as Trustee but may reimburse themselves of all expenses actually incurred by them in connection with the Trust or their duties relating thereto.”

Moreover, the PTI chairman’s lawyer said that no Trust property income or Trust property shall be paid, transferred directly or indirectly by way of profit, dividend, bonus or otherwise to any of its trustees or their relatives.

Panjutha said that it shall be within the competence of the trustees to sell and convert into cash the Trust property or any part thereof and hold the proceeds of such sale or sales after receiving payment of the expenses incidental thereto and the remaining may be used for either purchase of or investment in either immovable properties and/or Trust securities, which shall become the Trust property and be subject to the terms and conditions thereof.

About the role of a property firm, he said the National Crime Agency in the UK started an investigation and froze its accounts in accordance with the UK rules after considering the money suspicious.

Panjutha said that this money did not belong to the Government of Pakistan, this money belonged to the property tycoon’s family, who wanted to bring this money back to Pakistan after the NCA’s investigation; the government of Pakistan just facilitated the transfer of the money back to the country.

The PTI chairman’s counsel said that the return of money was falsely being linked to the Al-Qadir Trust by making it suspicious, adding that in the Al-Qadir Trust case, one charity organisation gave charity to another charity organisation.