ISLAMABAD:
Former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have filed a civil miscellaneous application in the IHC for early hearing of their appeals against the verdict of an accountability court which convicted the couple in the £190m corruption case earlier this year.
According to the application, the Islamabad Accountability Court-I convicted the PTI founder and his wife on January 17 and yet even after a delay of around three months, the IHC has not taken up their appeals. They contend that this delay is sufficient cause for expeditious hearing of their appeals.
The application states that the petitioner is a former PM and that his detention is a result of political vendetta. it claims that the delay in hearing of the appeals poses a risk of injustice. The petition further states that an early hearing is essential for timely justice.
The IHC diary branch has assigned diary number 7115/24 to the petition filed by Imran and 7116/24 to the petition filed by Bushra Bibi. Earlier, the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi had also filed miscellaneous applications seeking suspension of their sentences and release on bail.
Islamabad Accountability Court-I had sentenced the PTI founder to 14 years in prison and Bushra Bibi to 7 years in the case that was filed in 2023.
Speaking to Express News, the PTI founder’s lawyer, Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry, said Imran is being targeted for political revenge. “He was sentenced so that he might be kept in jail. The sentence is unconstitutional and illegal.”
