Pakistan IHC Suspends Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi's Sentence In Toshakhana Case

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday suspended the 14-year sentences handed out to former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana reference. The two were sentenced in the case by an Islamabad accountability court on January 31, days before the general elections. A day later, both were also sentenced to seven years in jail each in a case related to their marriage during the latter’s Iddat period.

Prior to this, a special court established under the Official Secrets Act had also sentenced Imran and his foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to 10 years in prison for the breach of state secrets.

In December, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a fresh reference against the two in an accountability court for retaining a jewellery set received from the Saudi crown prince against an undervalued assessment.

The next month, both were indicted in the reference by an Islamabad accountability court. The anti-graft watchdog had alleged in the reference that during his term as prime minister, Imran and his wife had received a total of 108 gifts from different heads of state and foreign dignitaries.

According to the verdict, Imran and Bushra were barred from holding any public office for 10 years and slapped with a fine of Rs787 million each.

Judge Moham­mad Bashir had already closed the right of cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses and asked Imran and his spouse to record their statements under Section 342 (power to examine the accused) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

While Bushra Bibi had recorded her statement in the case, Imran could not. During that hearing, Imran’s legal team had requested the court to restore the right of cross-examination but was turned down by the judge.

While the PTI founder had been presented during the hearing where the sentence was pronounced, his wife had not appeared before the court at the time.

Following the verdict’s announcement, Bushra arrived at Adiala Jail, where the NAB team was already present, to surrender to the authorities following the court’s directives. Subsequently, she had been taken into custody by the anti-graft watchdog.

A later notification by Islamabad Chief Commissioner Rana Waqas had declared Imran’s Banigala residence as a sub-jail for Bushra. The notification had been issued following a request by Adiala Jail’s superintendent._DAWN