- Solitary confinement causing extraordinary mental anguish: petition.
- The NAB is accused of repeatedly seeking adjournments, thereby delaying justice.
- The arrest procedure was declared illegal and a higher court ordered the 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 (IHC) verdict in the ₹190 million case, seeking suspension of their sentences and their immediate release.
The IHC last month rejected requests from the deposed prime minister and his wife to have their sentences in the £190 million corruption case suspended, observing that their main appeals were already set for hearing.
The petition – filed in the Supreme Court – argues that even after admitting the appeal as admissible, the IHC ignored key points of the case.
She argues that rejecting the stay request without conducting a preliminary examination of the evidence was legally incorrect and that it is legally permissible to consider the merits of the case before deciding whether to suspend the sentence.
The motion points out that during the trial, bail was granted and the allegations were declared baseless. It further states that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has repeatedly sought adjournments, thereby prolonging the appeal and causing undue delay in justice.
The petition draws attention to the serious health problems faced by the PTI founder and his wife during their imprisonment. It says Imran developed an eye disease while in detention and was transferred out of the prison for treatment. He further claims that refusing release despite serious health problems constitutes an injustice.
The petition also states that the PTI founder faced extraordinary mental anguish due to his solitary confinement and that the manner of his arrest was illegal and irresponsible – a top court had previously ordered his release for illegal detention.
On the question of jurisdiction, the petition asserts that the proceedings were conducted for political reasons in the name of accountability.
He notes that although the amendments to the NAB laws give the Constitutional Court jurisdiction to hear final appeals, there is no mention in the appeal of the need to approach the Constitutional Court – and therefore the appeal of the suspension of the sentence can be maintained in the Supreme Court.
The petition asks the Supreme Court to declare the IHC order null and void, suspend the sentence and order the immediate release of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.
An accountability court in Islamabad had earlier sentenced the PTI founder to 14 years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 million, while Bushra was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 500,000.
The court rejected a request to first consider the grounds for suspension of sentence, which called for the two men to be released on bail pending a decision on the main appeals.
Al-Qadir Trust case
The Al-Qadir Trust case, commonly known as the £190 million affair, involved allegations that Imran and a few others adjusted in 2019 50 billion rupees – 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 amount concerned relates to the assets of a real estate tycoon, which were seized by the NCA during the PTI rule. The British crime agency said at the time that the amount was supposed to be paid to the government of Pakistan as the settlement with the Pakistani property tycoon was “a civil matter and did not constitute a guilty verdict”.
However, the NAB filed a referral 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 Imran, the then prime minister, on December 3, 2019, without disclosing details of the confidential agreement.
