IHC restrains court from ruling on £190m case

A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday restrained the Islamabad accountability court from issuing the final ruling in the £190 million reference against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi.

The bench, comprising Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb and Justice Babar Sattar, allowed the trial to continue and warned that if the lawyers from the PTI used delaying tactics to disrupt or obstruct the proceedings, the court could withdraw its order.

The bench heard a petition filed by the couple seeking provision of the records related to the decision to close the £190 million case in April 2020. For the petitioners, Barrister Salman Safdar and Khalid Yusuf Chowdhury Advocate appeared in the court.

The reference in the accountability court had been filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). After hearing arguments, the court issued a notice to NAB and sought its reply by Wednesday (tomorrow) and adjourned the hearing.

Meanwhile, an accountability court in Islamabad granted a 14-day judicial remand of Imran and Bushra Bibi in the new Toshakhana case as the National Accountability Bureau did not seek their further physical remand. The couple will be produced before the court on September 2.