The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has given notices to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) regarding appeals challenging the trial court verdicts and seeking suspension of sentences of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insad (PTI) founder Imran Khan in the Cypher and Toshakhana cases, The Express Tribune reported. The court has asked them to submit their responses by February 29. Moreover, notices were issued for February 27’s hearing on the appeals of co-accused individuals, including former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Bushra Bibi, the wife of a former Prime Minister.
A two-member special division bench, comprising Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, presided over the appeals challenging the special court’s 10-year prison verdict for Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the Cypher case. The court sent a notice to the FIA and overruled objections raised by the office regarding the appeal against the cypher case conviction, according to The Express Tribune.
Furthermore, NAB has been served notices concerning appeals against the 14-year imprisonment verdict for Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana case.
In a similar development, the IHC issued a notice on the PTI founder’s post-arrest bail plea in the EUR190 million corruption case, seeking a response by the next hearing, The Express Tribune reported. However, in the Toshakhana NAB reference, Imran Khan’s bail application was deemed ineffective.
Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi have challenged the conviction and their 10-year sentences each in the cypher case. Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi filed appeals against their conviction in the Toshakhana case.
The court has sentenced them to 14 years imprisonment each and asked them to pay a fine of Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 1.54 billion.
In the appeal, the two leaders recalled that the IHC division bench had to scrap the trial court proceedings twice due to the “glaring illegalities. However, Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain allegedly concluded the trial without following the mandatory procedural requirements.
(with inputs from ANI)
