ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday disposed of all objections to the appeals filed by PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi against their convictions in the Toshakhana-II case and directed that the appeals be formally numbered and fixed for hearing.
During the proceedings in the Toshakhana case, Judge Khadim Hussain Soomro heard the appeals against the sentences awarded to Imran and his spouse. Barristers Salman Safdar and Salman Akram Raja appeared in court, while Imran Khan’s three sisters were also present.
Barrister Salman Safdar informed the court that the Registrar’s office had raised objections to their appeals without their knowledge. He said they only learned of the objections when they applied for a stay of sentence.
According to him, the objections were baseless, including one claiming that the power of attorney was out of date, an objection that was later withdrawn and accepted by the office itself.
He further stated that the office objected to the fact that the pages were not marked and that the order was not properly arranged.
Justice Soomro noted that the court dealt with the remaining objections. When Safdar questioned the objection regarding unflagged pages, the judge smilingly noted that counsel could simply mark the pages.
The court gave seven days to remove the remaining objections.
The court accepted two separate applications filed by Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, one seeking to have the objections in the main appeal removed and another seeking an extension of time to deal with the objections.
£190 million case
In parallel proceedings, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan heard various applications for an early hearing of stay-of-sentence petitions in the £190 million case.
Barrister Salman Safdar argued that Imran Khan was suffering from an eye disease and was taken to the hospital for treatment.
He clarified that he was not requesting an immediate hearing on the main appeal, but pointed out that the requests for a stay of sentence had been pending for almost a year.
He told the court that despite filing five different applications, the registrar had not directed the matter for hearing. He also noted that Bushra Bibi’s petition had been pending for the same duration and urged the bench to grant an early date.
The CJ expressed displeasure when a large number of PTI-affiliated lawyers approached the dais and asked if they were trying to influence the court.
The House agreed to the request for an expedited hearing and ordered that the eviction petitions be set for March 11.
