ISLAMABAD (MNN); The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday dismissed contempt of court petitions filed by former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, while granting their legal team a final two-week adjournment to begin arguments in appeals against their convictions in the £190 million corruption case.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfaraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif heard the appeals challenging the sentences awarded to the couple in the Al-Qadir Trust reference.
During the hearing, the court observed that the powers of attorney required for pursuing the appeals had already been signed by the appellants. Consequently, it ruled that the contempt petitions had become ineffective and dismissed them.
Representing the appellants, Barrister Salman Safdar, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Advocate Latif Khosa, and other members of the defence team sought additional time, arguing that an appeal against an earlier IHC order was pending before the Supreme Court.
The bench initially directed the defence to begin arguments and warned that if they failed to proceed, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor would be asked to present his case first.
However, after assurances from the defence that arguments would commence at the next hearing, the court accepted their request and adjourned the proceedings for two weeks.
The case relates to the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust reference, in which an accountability court sentenced Imran Khan to 14 years and Bushra Bibi to seven years’ imprisonment in January 2025. The prosecution alleges that the couple obtained financial and land benefits from Bahria Town in return for facilitating the adjustment of £190 million repatriated to Pakistan by the United Kingdom during the PTI government.
Separately, another bench of the Islamabad High Court removed procedural objections raised by the registrar’s office against petitions challenging the alleged solitary confinement of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.
Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro ordered that both petitions be formally registered while leaving the question of their maintainability to be decided during regular court proceedings.
Counsel for the petitioners argued that both detainees had been held in prolonged solitary confinement, denied access to newspapers, television and regular family meetings, and described their conditions as unlawful and inhumane.
The NAB prosecutor opposed the petitions, contending that the issue had already been raised during earlier proceedings and that any further remedy should be sought before the Supreme Court.
After hearing both sides, the court directed the registrar to remove all objections and fixed the petitions for further hearing on Tuesday.