The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has set May 7 to hear the appeals filed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi against their convictions in the £190 million corruption case. Meanwhile, the court dismissed their separate requests for suspension of their sentences.
In a reserved judgment, the court stated that since the main appeals are scheduled for hearing, the applications seeking suspension of sentences have become redundant. A two-member bench led by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar will preside over the appeals.
Earlier, the court had suggested that an expedited hearing of the primary appeals would be more appropriate than deciding on interim relief petitions. Imran Khan has been incarcerated since August 5, 2023, and is currently serving a 14-year sentence at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi related to the case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case.
On January 17, 2025, an accountability court in Islamabad sentenced Khan and Bushra Bibi to 14 and seven years in prison, respectively. Both have challenged these convictions before the high court. The case revolves around allegations that the couple received billions of rupees and hundreds of kanals of land from Bahria Town Ltd in exchange for facilitating the legalization of Rs50 billion repatriated to Pakistan by the United Kingdom during Khan’s tenure.
In a related matter, the court directed the superintendent of Adiala jail to decide within two days on a request filed by Bushra Bibi’s daughter for access to a personal physician and permission for family visits. The court ordered a reasoned decision and summoned the jail superintendent to appear in person on May 6.
During proceedings, Bushra Bibi’s lawyer Salman Akram Raja informed the court that the application had already been submitted to prison authorities via courier and in person. He also revealed that Bushra Bibi underwent surgery during the night of April 16-17. Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir remarked that the issue was already public and that the court was forwarding the request to jail authorities for appropriate action.
Last month, Bushra Bibi had also petitioned the court to suspend her sentence on medical grounds. Separately, the court sought a response from jail officials in a contempt case concerning the alleged failure to facilitate meetings between Khan and his lawyer. It was disclosed that prison authorities had yet to sign the counsel’s power of attorney, despite a March 2025 court order restoring Khan’s visitation rights twice a week.
Additionally, the court issued a notice to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan in a petition requesting the closure of Imran Khan’s social media account on X, formerly Twitter. The petition, filed in September 2025, claims that inflammatory posts have been made from the account. Further hearings on these matters have been postponed to next week.
