Convictions in cipher, Toshakhana cases: IHC defers hearing of IK’s, Bushra’s, Qureshi’s pleas

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC), Thursday, deferred the hearing of former prime minister Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s appeals against their convictions in the cipher and Toshakhana cases.

A special bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb on Thursday heard the appeals and adjourned the proceedings due to the non-availability of prosecution teams of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

During the hearing, the assistant attorney general informed the bench that the appointment of two special prosecutors of the FIA in this case is yet to be made and requested the court to defer the case.

Expressing his annoyance over it, Justice Miangul Hassan said the court is not accepting such things and it is the responsibility of the government to appoint the prosecutors when the matter is fixed before the court.

The bench also directed the assistant attorney general to take notes of the hearing of the case till the appointment of the prosecutor.

Barrister Salman Safdar, counsel representing Imran informed the bench that the trial court recorded the statements of 25 prosecution witnesses till midnight which was unprecedented. He requested the court to suspend Imran’s conviction as well as his 10years sentence.

Later, the court said that the court would hear them regarding the suspension of sentence at the next hearing to be held next week on Tuesday. It also directed the government to complete the process of appointment of prosecutors till then.

In the second appeal related to Toshakhana case, the NAB prosecutor sought some time as the special prosecutor is not available due to the death of someone in his family and requested the court to defer the case till March 11.

However, the IHC chief justice said that you are not supposed to run the court in this way and directed the NAB to ensure its presence on the next hearing to be held on March 5.

In this matter, Imran, Bushra, and Qureshi moved the petitions through their counsels, Barrister Ali Zafar, Salman Safdar advocate, and others, and cited the State and chairman NAB and secretary interior as respondents.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024