Former first lady Bushra Bibi. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Lawyers for Bushra Bibi, wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday, demanding a decision to suspend her sentence in the £190 million case before her appeal of her sentence is taken up.
Filed by Barrister Salman Safdar on behalf of Bibi, the miscellaneous application claims that bail-related matters must be prioritized in accordance with Supreme Court directives, adding that delays in dealing with suspension petitions would be contrary to the apex court’s settled policy. In January last year, an accountability court in Islamabad sentenced Imran to 14 years and Bibi to seven years in prison in the £190m case brought by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Currently, the IHC is hearing appeals to stay these sentences.
In the application, Barrister Salman Safdar said the NAB extended the case and urged the court to take into account what it describes as repeated delaying tactics, including raising objections after 10 months, to keep the convicts in jail.
The application states that Bibi was a ‘Parda observer woman who has either been acquitted or granted bail in 13 other cases, but she remains jailed for 14 months in this case on charges of complicity.
Maintaining that bail as a woman is her legal right, the application contends that when notices of suspension petitions have been issued and remain pending for a long period, they should be decided first.
The application outlines a timeline for deferrals: notices were issued to NAB on 15 May 2025; Time was sought on June 6 for the appointment of a special prosecutor; the June 11 hearing could not proceed due to bench unavailability; and additional time was requested on June 26.
Furthermore, the case was adjourned on 26 September due to the prosecutor’s illness, while the hearing on 16 October also did not take place due to the unavailability of the court. An early hearing request was filed in November and on March 11, the NAB prosecutor failed to appear again.
Meanwhile, the application stated, NAB raised objections to the maintenance of the suspension plea. The lawyers asked the court to grant permission for a prison meeting with his client.
