Bushra Bibi’s Lawyers Reach FCC Seeking Early Hearing in £190 Million Case
Salman Akram Raja, Barrister Salman Safdar and Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry arrive at Federal Constitutional Court seeking early scheduling of Bushra Bibi’s pending sentence-suspension appeal in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case.
ISLAMABAD: Senior lawyers representing former first lady Bushra Bibi reached the Federal Constitutional Court in Islamabad on Tuesday to seek fixation of her pending application concerning suspension of her sentence in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case.
PTI Secretary General and senior lawyer Salman Akram Raja, Barrister Salman Safdar and Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry were among the lawyers who arrived at the constitutional court along with other members of the legal team to pursue the matter and seek its scheduling for hearing.
Plea Pending Before FCC
The development comes as Bushra Bibi’s sentence-suspension proceedings remain pending before the Federal Constitutional Court. She had approached the FCC on July 30 after the Supreme Court office returned petitions challenging the Islamabad High Court’s refusal to suspend the sentences, observing that the appropriate remedy in the matter lay before the FCC under Section 32-A of the National Accountability Ordinance.
Bushra Bibi subsequently filed an urgent application on September 17 seeking an early hearing of her appeal. The application requested that the matter be taken up without further delay and cited her medical condition, particularly concerns relating to her eyesight, as one of the grounds for urgent consideration.
IHC Appeals Adjourned Indefinitely
The latest move at the FCC also comes immediately after proceedings before the Islamabad High Court in the main appeals against conviction in the same case. During Monday’s hearing, Barrister Salman Safdar informed the IHC that Bushra Bibi’s sentence-suspension matter was pending before the Federal Constitutional Court and argued that proceeding with the main appeals before a decision on that matter could render the FCC proceedings ineffective. The IHC subsequently adjourned the appeals indefinitely.
Safdar also told the IHC that the FCC matter was expected to be fixed shortly, making Tuesday’s visit by the legal team significant in efforts to secure a formal hearing date.
Al-Qadir Trust Case
An Islamabad accountability court had sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan to 14 years and Bushra Bibi to seven years in the Al-Qadir Trust case on January 17, 2025. Both challenged their convictions before the Islamabad High Court.
The case relates to the handling of £190 million returned to Pakistan following a settlement involving the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency and allegations concerning benefits linked to the Al-Qadir Trust. The prosecution has maintained that the transactions resulted in improper benefits, while Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi have contested the allegations and challenged both the findings and sentences through the courts.
The Federal Constitutional Court, headquartered on Constitution Avenue in Islamabad, now provides the relevant appellate forum for the sentence-suspension challenge under the applicable accountability law.
