Bushra Bibi petitions IHC for urgent relief

Lawyers for Bushra Bibi, wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday, seeking a ruling for suspension of her sentence in the £190 million case before her appeal against her conviction was taken up. Filed by Barrister Salman Safdar on behalf of Bibi, the miscellaneous application contends that bail-related matters must be prioritised in line with Supreme Court directives, adding that delay in hearing suspension petitions would run contrary to the apex court's established policy. In January last year, an Islamabad accountability court sentenced Imran to 14 years and Bibi to seven years in prison in the £190 million case, filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Currently, the IHC is hearing appeals for suspending these sentences. In the application, Barrister Salman Safdar said that NAB was prolonging the proceedings and urged the court to take notice of what it describes as repeated delaying tactics, including raising objections after 10 months, to keep the convicts incarcerated. The application states that Bibi was a 'Parda-observing woman, who has either been acquitted or granted bail in 13 other cases, yet she remains jailed for 14 months in the present matter on charges of abetment. The application maintains that, as a woman, bail is her legal right, and argues that once notices on suspension petitions have been issued and remain pending for a prolonged period, they should be decided first. The application outlines a timeline of adjournments: notices were issued to NAB on May 15, 2025; time was sought on June 6 for appointment of a special prosecutor; the June 11 hearing could not proceed due to the bench's unavailability; and further time was requested on June 26. Besides, proceedings were adjourned on September 26 due to the prosecutor's illness, while the October 16 hearing also did not take place owing to the bench's unavailability. An early hearing request was filed in November, and on March 11, NAB prosecutor again failed to appear. Meanwhile, the application stated, NAB raised objections to the maintainability of the suspension plea. The lawyers requested the court to grant permission for a jail meeting with his client.