Pakistan court rejects Imran Khan’s wife’s plea to suspend sentence

Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected Bushra Bibi’s plea to suspend her sentence. Bushra Bibi is the wife of former prime minister Imran Khan.

What did the court decide on Bushra Bibi’s sentence suspension plea?

A two-member bench led by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan heard her counsel, Salman Safdar, and examined the legal grounds for considering the petition. After hearing arguments on maintainability, the bench reserved its decision and later announced the rejection of the plea.

What did Bushra Bibi’s lawyer argue before the court?

Safdar argued that courts had traditionally taken a lenient approach towards women and said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had repeatedly sought adjournments during the past 13 months. He also criticized the anti-graft body for opposing the sentence suspension plea.

The lawyer maintained that legal grounds for granting relief had arisen following Bushra Bibi’s conviction. He said she was seeking suspension of her sentence on the basis of her status as a woman, adding that proceedings had largely focused on the appeal filed by Imran Khan.

Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan cautioned Safdar against discussing the merits of the case, saying the bench was considering the suspension petition rather than the substance of the underlying appeal.

Justice Ali Baqar Najafi observed that sentence suspension petitions were generally filed when the main appeal had not yet been heard. He also asked how many times the main appeal had been scheduled for hearing.