ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday withdrew all objections to the appeals filed by PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi against their convictions in the Toshakhana-II case and ordered that the appeals be formally numbered and fixed for hearing.
During the proceedings in the Toshakhana case, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro heard appeals against the sentences handed down to Imran and his wife. Lawyers Salman Safdar and Salman Akram Raja appeared before the court, while Imran Khan’s three sisters were also present.
Lawyer Salman Safdar informed the court that the registrar’s office had raised objections to their calls without their knowledge. He said they only became aware of the objections when they filed applications for sentence suspension.
According to him, the objections were unjustified, including one claiming that the power of attorney was expired, an objection which was later withdrawn and accepted by the office itself.
He added that the office objected to the pages not being flagged and the sequence not being properly organized.
Justice Soomro noted that the court was in the process of responding to the remaining objections. When Safdar questioned the objection about the unflagged pages, the judge smilingly observed that the lawyer could simply flag the pages.
The court granted seven days to remove the remaining objections.
The court accepted two miscellaneous applications filed by Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, one seeking removal of objections on the main appeal and the other seeking an extension of time to respond to the objections.
£190 million deal
In parallel proceedings, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan heard various petitions seeking early hearing of the motions for suspension of sentence in the ₹190 million case.
Lawyer Salman Safdar argued that Imran Khan was suffering from an eye disease and was being taken to hospital for treatment.
He clarified that he did not want to immediately hear the main appeal, but noted that the motions to suspend the sentence had been pending for almost a year.
He told the court that despite filing five various applications, the registrar’s office had not fixed the matter for hearing. He also noted that Bushra Bibi’s petition had been pending for the same duration and urged the bench to fix an early date.
The CJ expressed displeasure when a large number of PTI-affiliated lawyers approached the podium, asking if they were trying to influence the court.
Accepting the request for an expedited hearing, the bench ordered that the stay applications be fixed for March 11.
