ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) decision to reject the suspension of their sentences in the £190 million corruption case, seeking their immediate release on bail.
Both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi through their lawyer submitted that the IHC’s ruling issued last month, in which the court dismissed their applications for suspension of sentence, observing that the main appeals against their convictions had already been fixed for hearing.
In their appeal before the Supreme Court, the petitioners submitted that the IHC admitted the case as maintainable but failed to properly examine the legal and factual grounds raised by the defence. They contend that the court erred in rejecting the suspension applications without carrying out a preliminary assessment of the evidence, maintaining that such an examination is permissible under the law while deciding requests for suspension of sentence.
They further said that both accused had remained on bail during the trial proceedings and claims that the allegations against them lacked merit. It also alleges that repeated adjournments sought by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) delayed the appellate proceedings and prolonged their incarceration.
The petitioners also said that the health conditions of both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi during imprisonment. It states that Imran Khan developed an eye ailment while in custody and required medical treatment outside the jail, arguing that continued detention despite health concerns is unjustified.
The petition also alleged that Imran Khan suffered severe mental distress due to solitary confinement and reiterates the defence’s position that his arrest was unlawful, referring to an earlier court order that declared his detention illegal.
On the question of jurisdiction, the petition argues that the accountability proceedings were politically motivated and that the Supreme Court has the authority to hear the appeal for suspension of sentence. It requests the apex court to set aside the IHC’s order, suspend the sentences awarded to both petitioners, and order their immediate release.
An accountability court had earlier sentenced Imran Khan to 14 years’ imprisonment and imposed a Rs1 million fine, while Bushra Bibi was sentenced to seven years in prison along with a Rs500,000 fine in the £190 million case.
The case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case, relates to allegations that a settlement involving £190 million, repatriated to Pakistan by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), was unlawfully adjusted in 2019 during Imran Khan’s tenure as prime minister. The National Accountability Bureau alleges that the settlement was approved without disclosing the confidential agreement to the federal cabinet, an allegation denied by the defence.
