ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued notices to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to respond by Thursday (February 29) to incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s pleas challenging their sentences in the cipher and Toshakhana cases.
The IHC’s two-member division bench, led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb, heard Khan and co-convict Qureshi’s petitions to reverse their 10-year sentences imposed by the trial courts in the cipher case.
The IHC office also overruled objections to an appeal filed by the dismissed prime minister.
Additionally, notices have been sent to the anti-corruption watchdog on Thursday over Khan and Bushra’s pleas against their 14-year, each, imprisonment in the Toshakhana case.
At the commencement of the hearing, PTI counsel Barrister Ali Zafar claimed that unexpected events occurred during the trial.
The chief justice stated that lawyers should point up disputes while advancing arguments during the hearing.
It is worth noting that during the previous hearing, a bench was also formed to hear Imran Khan’s bail plea in the £190 million corruption case.
A special court established under the Official Secrets Act 2023 sentenced former Prime Minister Khan and former Foreign Minister Qureshi to ten years apiece in the cipher case last month.
The issue involves charges that the former prime minister made public the contents of a secret cable transmitted by the country’s ambassador in Washington.
The election commission convicted the former premier and his spouse guilty of corrupt acts after allegations surfaced that Khan bought the gifts he acquired as prime minister at throwaway prices and sold them on the open market for astonishing profits.
Last month, an accountability court sentenced the pair to 14 years in prison with a harsh penalty, disqualifying the former premier for ten years and imposing a fine of Rs 1.57 billion (Rs 787 million each).
