RAWALPINDI  -  A local accountability court yesterday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Bushra Bibi, the wife of incarcerated PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan over her continuous absence in court hearings in the £190 million graft case.

In December last year, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a corruption reference against PTI founder Imran Khan and seven others, including his wife, in connection with the Al-Qadir University. The couple were indicted in the case in February. On November 15, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had issued a detailed order on the duo’s appeals seeking acquittal in the corruption reference and remanded the case back to the accountability court with a directive to decide it.

The accountability court had dismissed the acquittal petitions earlier this year, which was then challenged by Imran’s legal team before the IHC. The high court initially restrained the accountability court from passing a judgement, however, the stay order stood vacated with the detailed order.

Accountability Judge Nasir Javed Rana presided over the hearing on Friday at Adiala Jail. However, Bushra did not attend the hearing, having requested an exemption on medical grounds.

The hearing was adjourned to November 26 while the judge issued her non-bailable arrest warrant over continued non-attendance. The warrant, addressed to NAB Deputy Director Mian Umar Nadeem, said she was “deliberately not appearing before the court” and thus the watchdog was required and authorised to arrest and produce her before the court on the next hearing.