ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday ordered that barrister Salman Safdar be allowed to meet former prime minister Imran Khan at Adiala jail at 2pm today (Wednesday) in connection with the £190m case.
A division bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif heard appeals filed by Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi against their convictions in the corruption case along with applications for stay of sentence and other miscellaneous petitions.
These included applications to facilitate a prison meeting with Imran for legal consultation and for early hearing of Bushra Bibi’s plea for suspension.
Barrister Salman Safdar appeared for the PTI founder, while NAB special prosecutor Javed Ashraf and Rafi Maqsood represented the prosecution.
Initially, the chief justice approved the request for a meeting with the PTI founder, allowing the lawyer to consult his client. Safdar requested that the meeting be scheduled at 14.00, which the court accepted.
He further urged the court to first take up Bushra Bibi’s eviction petition. The Chief Justice replied that the complaints could also be processed and taken up twice a week.
Justice Dogar indicated that once arguments begin, the court may decide the case within seven days.
Safdar, however, requested that the appeals not be disposed of immediately, saying that he would first meet his client and then assist the court after consultation. He reiterated that Bushra Bibi’s application for suspension can be decided first.
The court ordered the prison authorities to ensure the meeting at 14 and adjourned the hearing until Thursday, April 9.
The special prosecutor requested during the hearing that the case be fixed for Monday. The chief justice noted that the court schedules cases based on its availability and cannot commit to specific dates in advance.
The capital’s High Court on March 31 granted Imran Khan and his wife’s lawyer time to consult his clients if they wanted the court to first hear their main appeal in the £190m case.
Later, on April 4, Salman Safdar moved an application in the IHC seeking its order to the Adiala jail authorities to allow him to meet his jailed clients to discuss legal issues related to the ₹190 million case.
In the application, Safdar claimed that since December 20, 2025, the PTI founder had not been able to hold any meaningful or effective meeting with his advisers.
It maintained that he for approx. three months and twelve days had been deprived of proper access to documents, which had adversely affected his ability to prepare for the proceedings in a case of significant legal importance.
The petition named the Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Inspector General of Prisons in Punjab and the Superintendent of Adiala Jail as respondents.
