Imran Khan, wife Bushra Bibi challenge £190m case verdict in IHC

ISLAMABAD: In a recent development, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi have filed a petition the Islamabad High Court (IHC) challenging the verdict of an accountability court that convicted them in the £190m corruption case on January 17.

the Former Prime Minister’s petition contended that his conviction is unjust, unfair, which he claims are nothing other than a blatant case of political victimization and a direct interference in the function of law order.

He has been embroiled in almost 280 criminal cases since being ousted as the Prime minister, with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) being wielded as a political tool for vengeance.

His conviction and sentence, it is maintained, have been subjected to undue hardship and are fundamentally based on the notion to rob him of the ability to participate meaningfully in national politics and, thus, nip his future political influence at the bud.

On top of that, the petition talks of how Imran Khan has been victimized by this continuous prosecution, with every instance culminating in convictions that provided for bails, suspended sentences and quashing of further prosecution.

This is said to effectively imply that he does not have any leanings towards criminality or unlawful activities. What’s striking here is that throughout all these prosecutions, not a single private individual has actually been aggrieved, and every case has been pursued by the state upon the request of political opponents.

The Islamabad High Court has already issued notices to the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) and other parties to submit responses to Imran Khan’s acquittal motion in the Toshakhana-II case. The court ordered the lawyer to present the case on merits and refusal to transfer the case to another bench. The hearing has again been postponed till January 28.