Bushra Bibi seeks early hearing in Al-Qadir case

Bushra Bibi, the wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder and former prime minister Imran Khan, has approached the Federal Constitutional Court seeking an early hearing of her appeal against the refusal to suspend her sentence in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case.

Bushra Bibi filed an urgent application through her lawyer, Barrister Salman Safdar, requesting the court to fix her appeal for an early hearing. She has been serving a seven-year prison sentence in the case at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

An accountability court convicted Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi in January 2025 in the Al-Qadir Trust case. The case concerns allegations that the former prime minister and his wife provided benefits to property tycoon Malik Riaz in connection with funds returned to Pakistan by the United Kingdom.

Bushra had previously sought suspension of her sentence from the Islamabad High Court. However, the high court rejected her request in May 2026, noting that her main appeals against the conviction had already been scheduled for hearing.

She subsequently approached the Supreme Court, but the petition was returned by the court office on the grounds that the matter was not maintainable before the SC. The office stated that the relevant legal remedy against the Islamabad High Court’s order lay before the Federal Constitutional Court under the applicable provisions of the National Accountability Ordinance.

Bushra then filed her criminal appeal before the FCC on July 30. In the latest application, she has asked the constitutional court to hear the sentence suspension matter without further delay.

Her application places particular emphasis on her medical condition. It states that she is a 54-year-old woman and has experienced serious problems affecting her eyesight while remaining in custody.

According to the application, Bushra developed posterior vitreous detachment in her right eye and later experienced a sudden deterioration in her vision, including the appearance of a dark or black curtain. The condition was described as an ocular emergency, following which she underwent eye surgery at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital on April 16, 2026.

The application further claims that medical examinations conducted later found a similar condition in her previously unaffected left eye. It argues that continued delays in deciding her request for suspension of sentence could further endanger her eyesight.

Bushra’s lawyers have also argued that the prosecution’s alleged role attributed to her in the case was limited to aiding and abetting rather than carrying out the primary acts forming the basis of the alleged offence.

The application further refers to the legal provisions concerning relief for women in custody and argues that female prisoners should receive priority consideration in appropriate cases involving suspension of sentences.

According to the plea, the request for suspension of sentence has remained pending for an extended period, with the applicant claiming that approximately 19 months have passed since the matter was initially pursued before the Islamabad High Court and subsequently before the FCC.