Overview
- The Islamabad High Court, which heard the case Tuesday, pushed the sentence suspension pleas to April 6 after the defence said it needed time to consult Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.
- Prosecutors from the National Accountability Bureau, Pakistan’s anti-graft agency, argued that recent law changes require notices in the main appeals before any suspension-of-sentence request can be heard.
- The bench signaled that once the main appeals are taken up the suspension applications may fall away, and the judges floated setting two hearing days each week if appeals proceed.
- Defence lawyer Salman Safdar said he has not been allowed to meet his clients for five months at Adiala Jail, which he said blocks him from getting instructions to argue the appeals.
- Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were convicted on January 17, 2025, in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case, which alleges favors tied to repatriated UK funds and Bahria Town land, and Imran has been jailed since August 5, 2023 with other cases still pending.