The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday adjourned the hearing of the main appeal against the conviction in the £190 million corruption case until May 20, accepting a request by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founding chairman Imran Khan’s lawyer Barrister Salman Safdar.
In January last year, an Islamabad accountability court sentenced Imran to 14 years and Bushra Bibi to seven years in prison in the reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The IHC is currently hearing appeals seeking suspension of these sentences.
Safdar, on Wednesday, filed a miscellaneous petition in the IHC seeking the adjournment and also sought permission to meet his client to obtain instructions and have the power of attorney signed. Khan’s counsel stated that their involvement had thus far been limited to handling applications for the suspension of sentences, with no formal engagement in the main appeals, as the necessary Powers of Attorney had not been signed by their clients.
The case was heard by a two-member bench comprising Chief Justice (CJ) Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif. NAB Special Prosecutors Javed Arshad and Rafiq Maqsood appeared before the court, while Barrister Safdar was not present and was represented by his junior counsel.
During proceedings, the court read out the miscellaneous application seeking adjournment. The NAB prosecutor questioned the filing of the appeal and raised concerns over repeated discussions linked to the case in the media. In response, counsel Shoaib Shaheen said the matter should be argued in court rather than in public discourse.
NAB opposed the adjournment request; however, the court granted a final deadline for concluding arguments. The hearing was subsequently adjourned until May 20.
CJ Dogar said that the lawyers for PTI founder Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were being given a final opportunity to present arguments.
PTI lawyer Fatahullah Barki said the court’s orders were not being implemented and that meetings with the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi had not taken place as scheduled since the verdict.
The chief justice, after hearing the arguments, rose from the bench and went to chambers with the other judge, expressing hope that the case would progress at the next hearing.
On Monday, the IHC rejected the petitions of Imran and Bushra Bibi seeking the suspension of their sentences in the £190 million corruption case, observing that their main appeals were already fixed for hearing.
In its judgment, the court noted that the request for suspension of sentence was pressed because the main appeal was already fixed for hearing. Citing legal precedent, the court held that the merits of the case could not be examined at the stage of suspension of sentence.