- Solitary confinement causing extraordinary mental anguish: petition.
- NAB accused of repeatedly seeking adjournments, delaying justice.
- Arrest procedure declared unlawful, higher court had ordered release.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have approached the Supreme Court challenging the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) verdict in the £190 million case, seeking suspension of their sentences and immediate release.
The IHC, last month, rejected the petitions of the ousted prime minister and his spouse seeking the suspension of their sentences in the £190 million corruption case, observing that their main appeals were already fixed for hearing.
The petition — filed in the Supreme Court — argues that even after admitting the appeal as maintainable, the IHC ignored the key points of the case.
It contends that rejecting the suspension plea without conducting a preliminary review of the evidence was legally incorrect, and that it is legally permissible to examine case merits while deciding on suspension of sentence.
The petition highlights that during the trial, bail had been granted and the allegations had been declared baseless. It further states that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) repeatedly sought adjournments, prolonging the appeal and causing undue delay in justice.
The petition draws attention to serious health concerns faced by both the PTI founder and his wife during their imprisonment. It states that Imran developed an eye condition during detention and was shifted outside jail for treatment. It further argues that refusing release despite severe health issues amounts to injustice.
The petition also states that the PTI founder faced extraordinary mental anguish due to solitary confinement, and that the manner of his arrest was unlawful and irresponsible — a higher court had previously ordered his release on grounds of illegal detention.
On the question of jurisdiction, the petition argues that the proceedings were carried out on political grounds in the name of accountability.
It notes that while amendments to NAB laws grant the constitutional court jurisdiction to hear final appeals, there is no mention in the appeal of approaching the constitutional court — and therefore the suspension of sentence appeal is maintainable before the Supreme Court.
The petition requests the Supreme Court to declare the IHC order null and void, suspend the sentence and order immediate release of both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.
An accountability court in Islamabad had earlier sentenced the PTI founder to 14 years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs1 million, while Bushra was awarded seven years’ imprisonment along with a fine of Rs500,000.
The court rejected a request to take up the sentence suspension pleas first, which sought the duo’s release on bail pending a decision on the main appeals.
Al-Qadir Trust case
The Al-Qadir Trust case, commonly known as the £190m case, involved allegations that Imran and some others in 2019 adjusted Rs50 billion — amounting to £190 million at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government during his tenure as the country’s prime minister.
The concerned amount relates to a property tycoon’s assets, which were seized by the NCA during PTI’s rule. The British crime agency back then had said that the amount was supposed to be passed to the Government of Pakistan as its settlement with the Pakistani property tycoon was “a civil matter, and does not represent a finding of guilt”.
However, the NAB filed a reference in December 2023, followed by charges against Imran and his wife, Bushra Bibi, on February 27, 2024, alleging that a settlement with the British crime agency was reached and approved by then-prime minister Imran on December 3, 2019, without disclosing details of the confidential agreement.
