ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday suspended the 14-year sentences awarded to former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra by an Accountability Court in the Toshakhana reference.
A special bench of the IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb conducted hearing in the appeals moved by Imran and Bushra against their convictions in the Toshakhana case. However, they will not be released immediately as they have been convicted in other cases.
Imran and Bushra were sentenced in the Toshakhana reference by an Islamabad accountability court on January 31 and according to the verdict, they were barred from holding any public office for 10 years and slapped with a fine of Rs787 million each.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed the reference against them for retaining a jewellery set received from the Saudi Crown Prince against an undervalued assessment. 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.
During the hearing, Barrister Ali Zafar appeared before the court as the counsel for the ex-premier and his spouse while NAB prosecutor Amjad Pervaiz was also present.
Justice Aamer said to Zafar that his arguments would only be heard if the same are related to the suspension of the Toshakhana sentence and not to the appeal against the conviction. He said that as the appeal against the cipher conviction was already sub judice, both pleas could not be heard concurrently. Then, Ali Zafar started the arguments and asked for permission to give arguments related to annulment of the sentence instead of its suspension. However, the IHC Chief Justice said that if you are going to give arguments on the main appeal now, they would have to give a date after Eid because the Cipher case is already being heard. He said that in the main appeal of the case, the prosecution is yet to present its arguments and they do not know how much time they will take in this matter.
Imran’s counsel adopted the stance that he is not asking for suspension of sentence in this case. At this, NAB lawyer Amjad Pervez said that they will not give arguments against the suspension of the sentence and they accept the plea of the accused to the extent of suspension of the sentence. Then, Justice Farooq and Justice Miangul Hasan began consultation during which Justice Miangul Hassan addressed to the NAB lawyer and asked that what are you saying? Pervaiz replied that they have reviewed the verdict and this is a case of sentence suspension. Justice Aurangzeb immediately said that you have adopted a very fair position. Zafar again urged the court to hear his arguments in the Toshakhana appeal as well, contending that both were entirely different cases. However, Justice Aamer said that the cipher appeal proceedings would conclude within the next one or two hearings, after which the Toshakhana case could be heard.