Islamabad High Court has rejected requests by former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to suspend their sentences in the £190 million case. The court instead fixed their main appeals for hearing on May 7, moving the case forward without granting interim relief.
A division bench led by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif decided to proceed directly with the main appeals. The court ruled that separate suspension applications were no longer necessary since the primary hearings had already been scheduled.
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Moreover, the court disposed of the sentence suspension pleas as infructuous, meaning they lost relevance after the scheduling of the main appeals. The defence had argued for urgent consideration to secure bail before detailed hearings, but the court declined to prioritize those requests.
In addition, the National Accountability Bureau maintained that suspension pleas could not be heard separately once appeals were fixed for hearing. The anti-corruption body insisted that the legal process should continue in its proper order without interim interventions affecting the timeline.
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Earlier, an accountability court had sentenced Imran Khan to 14 years in prison with a fine of Rs1 million, while Bushra Bibi received seven years with a Rs500,000 fine. The case relates to allegations involving the settlement of £190 million linked to the National Crime Agency during Imran Khan’s tenure as prime minister.
Khan, who has remained in custody since August 2023, faces multiple cases ranging from corruption to terrorism following his removal from office in 2022. The upcoming hearing on May 7 is expected to play a key role in determining the future course of the high-profile £190 million case.