The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday suspended the 14-year sentences handed out to former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana reference.
The two were sentenced in the case by an Islamabad accountability court on January 31, days before the general elections. According to the verdict, Imran and Bushra were barred from holding any public office for 10 years and slapped with a fine of Rs787 million each.
A day later, both were also sentenced to seven years in jail each in a case related to their marriage during the latter’s Iddat period. Prior to this, a special court established under the Official Secrets Act had also sentenced Imran and his foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to 10 years in prison for the breach of state secrets.
In December, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a fresh reference against the two in an accountability court for retaining a jewellery set received from the Saudi crown prince against an undervalued assessment.
The next month, both were indicted in the reference by an Islamabad accountability court. The anti-graft watchdog had alleged in the reference that during his term as prime minister, Imran and his wife had received a total of 108 gifts from different heads of state and foreign dignitaries.
Bushra Bibi had challenged her conviction on February 17 — a day after Imran did the same in the cipher and Toshakhana cases. The former first lady also challenged a government notification that declared her Banigala residence as a sub-jail following the verdict.
On February 27, the IHC had admitted the appeals against their conviction and had requisitioned records related to the trial court proceedings by March 7.
The IHC division bench had also taken up applications seeking suspension of their sentences till the final adjudication of the main appeals against their conviction. At the outset, the bench overruled the objections to the petitions raised by the registrar’s office.
Earlier in March, the IHC had asked if the authorities had sought permission from Imran before converting his Bani Gala residence into a sub-jail for Bushra Bibi.
Today, a division bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb took up the appeal against the sentence.
Barrister Ali Zafar appeared as the counsel for the ex-premier and his spouse while NAB prosecutor Amjad Pervaiz was also present.
The hearing
At the outset of the hearing, Justice Farooq told Ali that his arguments would only be heard if they pertained to the suspension of the Toshakhana sentence and not to the appeal against the conviction.
The judge said that as the appeal against the cipher conviction was already sub judice, both pleas could not be heard concurrently.
The IHC chief justice said the appeal against the conviction would be fixed for hearing after Eid. Subsequently, the court suspended the sentences of Imran and Bushra in light of the NAB prosecutor’s statement.
The prosecutor said, “We have reviewed the verdict. This is a case of sentence suspension.” At this, the court observed that the “NAB’s stance is highly commendable”.
Accountability court verdict
Judge Mohammad Bashir had already closed the right of cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses and asked Imran and his spouse to record their statements under Section 342 (power to examine the accused) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
While Bushra Bibi had recorded her statement in the case, Imran could not. During that hearing, Imran’s legal team had requested the court to restore the right of cross-examination but was turned down by the judge.
While the PTI founder had been presented during the hearing where the sentence was pronounced, his wife had not appeared before the court at the time.
Following the verdict’s announcement, Bushra arrived at Adiala Jail, where the NAB team was already present, to surrender to the authorities following the court’s directives. Subsequently, she had been taken into custody by the anti-graft watchdog.
However, she was moved to Imran’s Bani Gala home after it was declared sub-jail in a late-night notification.
Her shifting to the residence has been under discussion for weeks as she and her husband denied submitting any application to declare the residence as a sub-jail.
In an earlier hearing, the Adiala Jail administration had opposed moving her back to the prison, claiming that overcrowding posed security threats for the former first lady.
More to follow
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