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Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, are unlikely to receive relief from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) this year. The registrar’s office of the IHC reported that they cannot list the appeals filed by Imran and Bushra against their conviction in the £190 million case for hearing due to a backlog of pending appeals. The registrar submitted this information in a report to a division bench, led by Acting Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif. This bench was hearing a request from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to list the appeals earlier.
The report mentioned that the IHC formulated a “fixation policy” in February 2024 to speed up the resolution of cases. The National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC) held its 51st meeting on December 9, 2022, and made this decision. The committee recommended that high courts prioritise appeals from convicts and un-confirmed condemned prisoners whose cases had been pending for more than two years. It also suggested forming special benches to resolve approved appeals for convicts with sentences of more than five years within two months.
Read more: Authorities Block Imran Khan’s Sisters and Lawyers from Visiting Him in Jail
The IHC registrar’s report revealed that 279 appeals are pending before the court. Among them, 63 concern capital punishment, 73 involve life imprisonment, 88 are appeals for sentences longer than seven years, and 55 are for sentences under seven years. The oldest pending appeal dates back to 2017 and challenges a death sentence. The court processes these appeals based on their filing date.
The report stated that Imran Khan filed his appeal on January 31, 2025. The court sentenced him to 14 years in prison, while Bushra Bibi received a seven-year sentence. The appeal is currently at the motion stage. After the court admits it, the team will need to prepare paper books. Given the backlog of cases and the NJPMC’s fixation policy, the report stated that they cannot list the appeal for regular hearing in 2025.
On January 18, 2025, an accountability court convicted Imran and Bushra in the £190 million case. Imran received a 14-year sentence, and Bushra Bibi got seven years. The court also imposed fines of Rs 1 million on Imran and Rs 0.5 million on Bushra. If Imran fails to pay the fine, the court will extend his prison sentence by six months. If Bushra does not pay, the court will extend her sentence by three months.
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