ISLAMABAD - The spouse of the Chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Bushra Bibi, filed a petition on Wednesday in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), seeking permission to meet her husband without the presence of security personnel.
In her plea, she stated that, in accordance with court directives, she was allowed to meet her husband every Tuesday. However, the presence of jail staff during these meetings compromised the privacy needed to discuss family matters. Therefore, she requested the issuance of directives to the superintendent of Adiala Jail to allow private meetings with the PTI chief. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Wednesday reinstated Imran Khan’s bail in the Toshakhana case while it disposed of his petition in the £190 million case. A division bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri announced the reserved verdict in this matter. The IHC bench restored the PTI Chairman’s right of bail in the Toshakhana case while it dismissed his petition seeking the same in the £190 million settlement case on grounds that he had already been arrested in it. The court dismissed the pre-arrest bail application in the £190 million case as the arrest had already been executed, leading to the application’s disposal. In this regard, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had raised objections to the pleas in the IHC for restoring the bail applications of the PTI chief in the Toshakhana investigation and the £190 million scam case. Imran’s bail application was dismissed by an accountability court for not appearing in the court. In his petition, Imran contended that since he was under arrest at that time therefore he could not appear in the court in person. He requested the court to reinstate his bail application. Deputy NAB Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi raised the objection that bail applications could not be restored under the NAB Ordinance. Meanwhile, another IHC bench comprising Justice Aamer turned down the bail petition of PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case. IHC Chief Justice Amer Farooq announced the reserved verdict. The court had earlier reserved the judgment after hearing both the sides. The court noted in the verdict, “The instant petition is without merit and is accordingly dismissed, however, learned Trial Court is directed to conclude the trial within four (04) weeks from the date of receipt of this Order. The counsel for the petitioner contended that allegations against the petitioner are that he wrongfully communicated the contents of cypher; that the information with respect to official secret document was passed on. It was contended that there is nothing on record to establish that petitioner divulged the contents of cipher to the public at large, hence provisions of sections 5 & 9 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 do not apply to him. It was stated that case of the prosecution hinges upon statements of Muhammad Azam Khan under sections 161 Cr.PC and 164 Cr.PC and it is trite law that statement of co accused is not sufficient to implicate and/or is a proof against other accused persons.