IHC sets March 11 hearing on Imran, Bushra’s sentence suspension pleas in £190m graft case

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ordered that petitions seeking suspension of sentences of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the £190 million case be fixed for hearing on March 11. Lawyers for Imran have requested the court to suspend his sentence on medical grounds and grant him bail. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan heard miscellaneous applications seeking an early hearing of the sentence suspension pleas. Barrister Salman Safdar appeared before the court on behalf of Khan. During the hearing, the chief justice expressed displeasure when a large number of PTI-affiliated lawyers approached the rostrum, questioning whether they were attempting to influence the court. Safdar argued that Imran was suffering from an eye condition and was being taken to hospital for treatment. He clarified that he was not seeking an immediate hearing of the main appeal but noted that the applications for suspension of sentence had remained pending for nearly a year. He further told the court that the registrar’s office had not fixed the applications for early hearing despite five miscellaneous petitions being filed, and urged the bench to schedule the case at the earliest. He also pointed out that Bushra’s petition had similarly been pending for a year. Accepting the request for an early hearing, the court directed that the sentence suspension petitions of Imran and Bushra be scheduled for hearing on March 11. Background Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi are facing a £190 million graft case linked to the Al-Qadir Trust, a welfare organisation they established in 2018. The trust, which runs a university outside Islamabad focused on spirituality and Islamic teachings, is accused of being used as a front to receive land worth millions of dollars from a real estate tycoon. The government claims the donations were in exchange for Imran’s administration using repatriated UK funds to pay fines against the businessman, instead of depositing the money into Pakistan’s treasury. Imran has denied any wrongdoing, insisting neither he nor his wife gained financially from the trust or related transactions. In his written response to the IHC, he claimed the case is politically motivated, alleging a corruption reference against Maryam Nawaz led to a fabricated case against Bushra Bibi. He challenged the prosecution’s evidence, highlighted inconsistencies in witness statements, and accused the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of destroying key records related to political leaders, including Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, and Asif Zardari. Imran has argued that amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999 protect cabinet decisions from prosecution unless there is proof of personal gain. The IHC has acknowledged the “substance” of this claim and directed the trial court to consider it while deciding the matter. He subsequently filed a civil miscellaneous application in the IHC seeking a hearing of his appeals against the accountability court verdict, which earlier this year convicted him and his wife in the £190 million corruption case.

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