ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday directed a district and sessions court to decide the pleas seeking the suspension of the sentence of former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the iddat case in 10 days.
Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb heard the petitions of PTI founder and Bushra Bibi.
During the hearing, lawyer Salman Akram Raja argued that he had never seen a judge transfer a case so abruptly in his career. He stated that the session judge heard the case initially, but it was then transferred to the additional session judge. He questioned why the case was transferred to the additional session judge.
Salman Akram Raja requested that the session judge Shahrukh Arjumand be directed to deliver the reserved decision. He suggested that either the High Court itself should hear the appeal and decide or the appeal should be transferred to the session judge West. He urged the court to set a time frame for the session court to decide the appeal, suggesting that since the trial was conducted in two days, the appeals should also be heard promptly.
Khawar Maneka’s lawyer, Raja Rizwan Abbasi, argued that Khawar Maneka had objected to the judge, but the court dismissed the request. When Khawar Maneka objected again, the session judge referred the matter to the High Court. The High Court sent these appeals to the additional session judge West on the administrative side, and this administrative order cannot be directly or indirectly challenged.
Khawar Maneka’s lawyer opposed transferring the appeal from the additional session judge to the session judge.
After hearing the arguments from both sides, the court ordered that the appeal in the ‘Iddat’ case be decided within a month and directed the session court to decide on the request for suspension of the sentence within 10 days.
It should be noted that the PTI founder had requested that the session judge be directed to deliver the reserved judgment or that the High Court itself hear the appeal. Bushra Bibi had requested a decision on her pending suspension of sentence application in the session court.
