Imran's wife Bushra Bibi moves Lahore court against her possible arrest
Her petition asked the court to declare the act of the respondents illegal and restrain them from arresting the petitioner in any undisclosed case or inquiry.
PTI Chief Imran Khan with his wife Bushra Bibi. (Photo Credit - X/The Truth International)
LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking a stay on her possible arrest, The News International reported on Tuesday. In the petition, she has sought details of all the cases including undisclosed FIRs registered against her.
The Pakistan-based media outlet reported that Advocate Mushtaq Ahmad Mohal filed the petition, representing Bushra Bibi, pleading that the agencies including FIA, NAB, police and ACE have been keeping the FIRs secret so the petitioner could not approach the courts for grant of pre-arrest bail.
The petition called the keeping the secrecy of registered cases illegal, unlawful and violative of fundamental rights. Her petition contended that after the ‘illegal’ removal of her husband from the office of the prime minister, the political victimisation against her, her husband and other members of the family started by the federal and provincial governments, and law enforcement agencies with mala fide and ulterior motives lodged many false and frivolous FIRs against the petitioner and her husband on the direction of the governments.
Her petition asked the court to declare the act of the respondents illegal and restrain them from arresting the petitioner in any undisclosed case or inquiry.
The hearing of the petition is fixed before the court of Justice Alia Neelum, The News International reported. Earlier, Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulaqrnain heard the case and granted bail to Bushra Bibi till September 12 in the Toshakhana case.
Bushra Bibi’s bail was accepted against surety bonds worth 500,000 Pakistani Rupees (PKR). The former first lady has been accused of keeping a locket, chain, earrings, two rings and bracelet from the Toshakhana gifts. She is also accused of keeping gold, diamonds, necklaces, and bracelets, according to ARY news. The NAB has maintained that the gifts were not submitted to the Toshakhana to calculate their prices. Notably, the Toshakhana issue became a major sticking point in national politics after the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified the PTI chief for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”, ARY News reported.
Earlier last month, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman’s conviction and three-year jail sentence in the Toshakhana case, Dawn News reported. The bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri on the former prime minister’s appeal against his prison term announced the much-anticipated order, that comes months ahead of the national elections in the country. According to Dawn News, the trial court in Islamabad had convicted the PTI chief in the case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that involved concealing details of state gifts and jailed him for three years. The verdict meant he was disqualified from contesting general elections for five years.
Pakistan district and sessions court on August 5, sentenced Imran Khan to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case i.e. for illegally selling state gifts and disqualified him from politics for a period of five years, local media reported. He was lodged in Attock Jail in Punjab province in the country. The PTI Chairman was arrested from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore soon after being convicted in the Toshakhana case. The court also imposed a fine of Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 100,000 on Imran Khan, Geo News reported.