FCC sets key PTI cases for hearing

As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) prepares for a long march in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has scheduled two cases involving the party for hearing next week.

The FCC has fixed for Oct 15 a petition by PTI lawmaker Sher Afzal Marwat challenging the election of Sohail Afridi as chief minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The court also fixed for Oct 14 a petition by the wife of PTI founder Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, seeking suspension of her sentence in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

Both cases will be heard by a two-member bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, with Justice Ali Baqar Najafi also on the bench.

The timing of the fixation of both cases is significant.

Bushra Bibi's counsel, Salman Safdar, argued in her petition before the FCC that she is entitled to suspension of her sentence as a woman with a serious medical condition, citing the first proviso to Section 497(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The Islamabad High Court had earlier disposed of applications by former prime minister Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi seeking suspension of their sentences without deciding the matter on merit.

Bushra Bibi filed the appeal days after the Supreme Court said on July 24 that it could not hear bail applications in pending National Accountability Bureau (NAB) appeals. As a result, pending criminal appeals were transferred to the newly established FCC.

The FCC is expected to issue notices to the respondents on Oct. 14.

Meanwhile, the FCC will hear Sher Afzal Marwat's petition challenging Sohail Afridi's election as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on Oct. 15.

The court took up Marwat's petition on Sept 14 and issued notices to all respondents, including the Attorney General for Pakistan. No notice was issued to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general.

The petition, filed under Article 175(E) of the Constitution, seeks a declaration that resignation letters submitted by Ali Amin Gandapur on Oct. 8 and 11, 2025, were made under the alleged unconstitutional direction of a convicted and disqualified person and therefore lacked legal effect.

The petition alleges that the process to replace Gandapur as K-P CM was initiated on the directives of Imran, whom it describes as convicted and constitutionally disqualified under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

It argues that a person subject to such a disqualification is legally barred from exercising control over state functionaries or issuing binding political directives.