Former first lady Bushra Bibi. PHOTO: ARCHIVE
ISLAMABAD:
Lawyers for Bushra Bibi, wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday, seeking a ruling to suspend her sentence in the £190 million case before her appeal against her conviction was accepted.
Filed by advocate Salman Safdar on behalf of Bibi, the miscellaneous petition contends that matters relating to bail should be given priority in accordance with the directives of the Supreme Court, adding that delay in hearing the stay petitions would be contrary to the stated policy of the apex court. In January last year, an accountability court in Islamabad sentenced Imran to 14 years and Bibi to seven years in prison in the £190 million case, brought by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Currently, the IHC is processing appeals to suspend these sentences.
In the petition, lawyer Salman Safdar said the NAB was prolonging the process and urged the court to take note of what he described as repeated delaying tactics, including filing objections after 10 months, to keep convicts incarcerated.
The application claims that Bibi was a female ‘Parda watcher, who has been acquitted or granted bail in 13 other cases, but remains jailed for 14 months in the present matter on charges of complicity.
The lawsuit maintains that, as a woman, bail is her legal right, and argues that once notices regarding stay petitions have been issued and remain pending for an extended period, they must be decided first.
The application outlines a schedule of deferrals: notices were issued to NAB on May 15, 2025; On June 6, time was requested for the appointment of a special prosecutor; the June 11 hearing could not continue due to the court’s unavailability; and more time was requested on June 26.
Furthermore, the trial was postponed on September 26 due to the prosecutor’s illness, while the hearing on October 16 also did not take place due to the court’s unavailability. An early hearing request was filed in November and on March 11 the NAB prosecutor again failed to appear.
Meanwhile, according to the complaint, NAB raised objections to the maintainability of the ground for suspension. The lawyers asked the court to grant permission to meet their client in jail.
