ISLAMABAD: Senior legal representatives of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) approached the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Tuesday, urging an early hearing of former first lady Bushra Bibi’s plea to suspend her sentence in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, along with Barrister Salman Safdar and Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry, met the FCC’s additional registrar to request prompt fixation of Bushra’s case. The FCC office assured the legal team that the case would be registered within the week and scheduled for hearing soon, Advocate Intezar Hussain Panjutha.
No new written application was submitted during the visit; instead, the lawyers made a verbal request for early registration and hearing.
This move follows the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) indefinite adjournment of appeals filed by PTI founder Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi against their convictions in the same case. During Monday’s hearing, Barrister Salman Safdar informed the IHC that an application for suspension of Bushra’s sentence had already been filed with the FCC, with a request for early hearing submitted on September 17.
Safdar argued that if the IHC proceedings continued before the FCC’s petition was addressed, it could undermine the effectiveness of the FCC’s review. The IHC bench, led by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif, adjourned the appeals indefinitely after Safdar raised concerns about his inability to meet Bushra for instructions, noting he had not seen her since December 2025.
Currently serving a seven-year sentence at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, Bushra Bibi filed the FCC application on September 17, emphasizing the urgency due to her deteriorating eyesight and overall health. Her lawyers highlighted that prolonged delays in hearing her plea risk further damage to her vision, noting she developed a serious eye condition during the extended legal process and underwent surgery on one eye in April.
The legal team contends that the delay in deciding her suspension plea has caused significant prejudice and that her case merits priority consideration.
Both Bushra Bibi and Imran Khan were convicted in January 2025 in the Al-Qadir Trust case. Imran received a 14-year prison sentence, while Bushra was sentenced to seven years after an accountability court found them guilty in connection with allegations involving the management of £190 million recovered by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency.
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