Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday laid the foundation stone of Daanish University in Islamabad following the transfer of £190 million to the national treasury.
PM Shehbaz while addressing the groundbreaking ceremony today expressed his gratitude to the former Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and the current Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi for their help in transferring the £190 million to the national treasury.
The amount was originally returned to Pakistan by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), which was transferred to the Supreme Court’s treasury during founder Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan’s tenure.
These are the same funds of Al-Qadir University case in which former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi were convicted. Khan was sentence to 14 years in prison while his wife was given 7 years in their involvement in the Al-Qadir Trust scandal regarding “adjustment” of £190 million worth of assets of a Malik Riaz seized by the UK’s NCA during Khan’s tenure as PM.
The Al-Qadir Trust case alleged that Imran Khan provided a legal cover to the black money received from the UK in collusion with Malik Riaz.
Since the transfer of funds from Supreme Court to federal government, PM Shehbaz promised to establish a global institution with top-tier faculty research centres, and academic excellence.
The premier also revealed that students from across the country would receive merit-based admissions while announcing Rs10 billion as seed money for the university.
Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal emphasised that the institution would prepare the national workforce for the advanced fields like AI, bio-technology, robotics, space science.
The university’s first section is expected to become operational by August 14, 2026.
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