FCC rejects Bushra Bibi's petition seeking suspension of 7-year Al-Qadir Trust sentence

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Wednesday rejected a plea moved by the spouse of incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, seeking suspension of her seven-year sentence in the £190 Al-Qadir Trust case . “We find no sufficient ground warranting interference with the April 30 Islamabad High Court (IHC) order at this stage,” FCC Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan observed, who headed the two-judge bench that rejected Bushra Bibi’s plea. The IHC has declined to dismiss her plea for the suspension of her sentence as an appeal against her and Imran’s conviction remained pending before the high court. The FCC bench, which included Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, expressed the expectation that the high court would endeavour to decide the main appeal against her conviction, affording both sides adequate opportunity of hearing while discouraging unnecessary adjournments.

Earlier in the day, the bench had reserved its ruling on the plea, which contended that Bushra Bibi, being a woman and in view of her serious medical condition, was entitled to the suspension of her sentence, as similar relief was contemplated under the first proviso to Section 497(1), CrPC, which deals with cases where bail may be granted in ease of a non-bailable offence. In its three-page order, the FCC noted that the application seeking the suspension of the sentence had remained pending before the IHC on account of successive adjournments sought by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). It observed that, without entering into the merits of the application under Section 426 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the IHC had declined to suspend the sentence principally on the ground that the main appeal had already been fixed for hearing and the appellant’s counsel was not extending the…