The court grants 7 days for all objections to be removed; Salman Safdar accuses registrar of creating confusion
Islamabad High Court. PHOTO: ARCHIVE
ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court on Thursday withdrew all objections to the appeals filed against the Toshakhana case sentences of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi. The court also ordered that the appeals be numbered and the hearing be scheduled.
Lawyer Salman Safdar said: “You are seeing us in court for the first time; don’t let us leave empty-handed.” Judge Khadim Hussain Soomro commented: “Your two applications have been approved; you will not leave empty-handed.”
On December 20, a special court sentenced Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi to 17 years in prison each in the Toshakhana-II case, which centers on allegations that the couple illegally withheld a set of Bulgari jewelry gifted by the Saudi Crown Prince during an official visit to Saudi Arabia.
During the hearing on the appeals against the sentences in the Toshakhana case, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro presided over the matter. Lawyers Salman Safdar and Salman Akram Raja appeared, along with Imran Khan’s three sisters.
Advocate Salman Safdar said, “The Registrar’s office had raised objections to our appeal. We were not aware of those objections. When we filed the stay applications, we found that there were objections. Objections were raised to the appeals which were baseless. The Registrar’s office objected that the power of attorney was outdated; later, they withdrew the objection and accepted it. The office also objected that the pages were not marked and the order was not arranged properly.”
Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro commented that the court was addressing the remaining objections on the appeals. Advocate Salman Safdar questioned the objection about unmarked pages, to which the judge, smiling, replied that the lawyer could mark the pages.
The court granted seven days for all remaining objections to be removed. Lawyer Salman Safdar said, “Earlier we faced a lot of difficulties and we hope that now the process will be easier. The Registrar’s office has caused confusion.”
Two miscellaneous applications by Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were accepted, including one to remove objections to the main appeal and another to extend the deadline for removing objections. Justice Soomro assured that the applications had been approved and that the parties would not leave empty-handed.
