Counsel for Imran, Bushra seeks adjournment of May 7 hearing, says he is not authorised to argue main appeals in £190m case

ISLAMABAD: A day before the scheduled hearing in the £190 million corruption case, counsel for former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi on Wednesday said they were not authorised to argue the main appeals against conviction and sought an adjournment of the May 7 hearing.

In an application filed before the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Barrister Salman Safdar, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and Sarmad Muneeb said their engagement was limited to arguing applications for suspension of sentence, adding that no formal power of attorney or instructions had been obtained for the main appeals.

The lawyers also informed the court that, despite repeated efforts, the authorities at Adiala jail had not facilitated meetings with the clients for the purpose of obtaining instructions or executing fresh powers of attorney.

“The undersigned expresses inability to proceed further in the absence of proper instructions, formal engagement, and requisite Power(s) of Attorney,” the application stated.

The counsel prayed to the court to issue strict directions to the jail authorities to allow meetings with the clients and to adjourn the main appeals fixed for hearing on May 7.

The development comes after a two-member bench of the IHC, headed by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, on April 30 rejected the couple’s plea seeking the suspension of their sentence in the same case, observing that the main appeals were already fixed for hearing. The court had declared the suspension applications infructuous and directed arguments on the main appeals for May 7.

Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were sentenced on January 17, 2025, by an accountability court to 14 and seven years respectively in the £190 million corruption case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case. Both have challenged their convictions before the IHC.

The case alleges that the couple obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd to legalise Rs50 billion identified and returned to the country by the United Kingdom during the PTI government.