ISLAMABAD: The embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday accused the country’s judiciary of politicisation, calling on the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to decide the long-delayed £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case on its merits.
The opposition party described the proceedings as politically motivated, warning that convictions in the case have eroded public confidence in the judicial system.
PTI spokesman Sheikh Waqas Akram said no evidence had been presented linking jailed party founding chairman Imran Khan or his associates to corruption or personal financial gain.
He urged the court to suspend the sentences handed down on 17 January 2025, which he described as “a stain on the judicial record.”
“For nearly a year, appeals have been stalled by bureaucratic and administrative hurdles, raising serious concerns about the judiciary’s independence and credibility,” Akram said.
“We urge the bench to ensure timely justice and uphold the constitutional mandate of independent judicial proceedings.”
He framed the case as a broader struggle for due process and the rule of law, calling on the masses and party members to show peaceful solidarity.
He expressed optimism that the courts could overturn the convictions, leading to the release of Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, saying they are languishing in jail in politically motivated and fabricated cases.
The PTI also condemned the Punjab School Education Department for sealing a welfare school in Rajana, Toba Tek Singh, after it hosted a ceremony where Khan’s sister, Noreen Khan, addressed students.
The school, which educates around 700 underprivileged children, is run by retired Brigadier Javed Akram, currently serving a six-year prison sentence.
“No violation of law occurred. This is a clear case of political victimisation,” Akram said, calling for the school’s immediate reopening and warning that denying education to children was “nothing short of cruelty.”
He further highlighted what he described as systemic failures in Pakistan’s judicial system, citing the acquittal of suspects in the seven-year-old Ume Rubab Chandio family murder case after more than 400 hearings due to lack of evidence.
“Judiciary appears under pressure, the economy is in ruins, and public confidence in the system is fading,” he said, urging transparency, accountability and an end to political persecution, including the immediate release of political prisoners.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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