Imran's counsel seeks delay in £190m appeal

Cites lack of access to client for instructions

ISLAMABAD:

Former prime minister and PTI founding chairman Imran Khan's lawyer Barrister Salman Safdar on Wednesday filed a miscellaneous petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking adjournment of the main appeal hearing against the conviction in the £190 million corruption case.

The counsel has also sought permission to meet his client to obtain instructions and have the power of attorney signed.

A two-member division bench led by Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar is scheduled to hear on Thursday (today) the appeals of Imran and his spouse Bushra Bibi against their convictions in the case.

Barrister Salman Safdar, in the application, stated that he had no instructions from his clients to proceed with the appeals. He contended that despite efforts, jail authorities did not facilitate a meeting with Imran to obtain instructions.

The petition requested the court to direct prison authorities to ensure a meeting between the counsel and his client so that proper instructions could be obtained, and further prayed for the adjournment of the scheduled hearing of the main appeals.

On Monday, the IHC rejected the petitions of Imran and Bushra Bibi seeking the suspension of their sentences in the £190 million corruption case, observing that their main appeals were already fixed for hearing.

In January last year, an Islamabad accountability court sentenced Imran Khan to 14 years and Bushra Bibi to seven years in prison in the reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The former PM and his wife, who are currently detained at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, later filed appeals in the IHC, which will take them up after more than a year today.

The IHC is currently hearing appeals seeking suspension of the sentences.