ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday ordered that lawyer Salman Safdar be allowed to meet former Prime Minister Imran Khan at Adiala Jail at 2 pm today (Wednesday) in connection with the £190 million case.
A division bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif, heard appeals filed by Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi against their convictions in the corruption case, along with applications for suspension of sentence and other miscellaneous petitions.
These included requests to facilitate a jailhouse meeting with Imran for a legal consultation and for an early hearing on Bushra Bibi’s suspension plea.
Advocate Salman Safdar represented the PTI founder, while NAB special prosecutor Javed Ashraf and Rafi Maqsood represented the prosecution.
Initially, the Chief Justice approved the request to meet the PTI founder, allowing the lawyer to consult his client. Safdar requested that the meeting be scheduled for 2 pm, which the court accepted.
He further urged the court to first accept Bushra Bibi’s suspension petition. The Chief Justice responded that appeals could also be set for hearing and examined twice a week.
Judge Dogar indicated that once arguments begin, the court could decide the matter within seven days.
Safdar, however, requested that the appeals not be resolved immediately, saying he would first meet his client and then assist the court after consulting it. He reiterated that Bushra Bibi’s suspension request can be decided first.
The court ordered the prison authorities to ensure the meeting at 2:00 pm and adjourned the hearing until Thursday, April 9.
During the process, the special prosecutor asked to set the case for Monday. The chief justice noted that the court schedules cases based on availability and cannot commit to specific dates in advance.
On March 31, the capital’s high court gave time to the lawyer for Imran Khan and his wife to ask his clients whether they wanted the court to hear their main appeals in the £190 million case first.
Later on April 4, Salman Safdar filed an application with the IHC, seeking its order that the Adiala Jail authorities allow him to meet his incarcerated clients to discuss legal matters related to the £190 million case.
In the application, Safdar contended that since December 20, 2025, the PTI founder had not been able to hold any meaningful or effective meeting with his lawyers.
He maintained that for approximately three months and twelve days he had been deprived of adequate legal access, which had adversely affected his ability to prepare for proceedings in a case of great legal importance.
The petition named the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the inspector general of Punjab Prisons and the superintendent of Adiala jail as respondents.
