A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Thursday rejected pleas of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi seeking suspension of their sentences in the iddat case.
In a 10-page order, Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka observed that petitions filed under Section 426 of the Code of Criminal Procedure cannot discuss the merits of the case, adding post-conviction, a petitioner no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence. In the instant case, reads the judgement, it must be determined whether the sentence is short or not and whether the petitioners have served out a major portion of it.
Citing past precedent, the ruling noted that similar sentences—both Khan and Bushra were sentenced to 7 years’ imprisonment each as well as fines of Rs. 500,000—were not suspended. Additionally, it noted, the appeals against the petitioners’ conviction were already fixed for hearing and had to be decided within a fortnight as per orders of the Islamabad High Court.
Referring to past precedent, the judgment stated that as “convict cannot claim bail as a matter of right even in bailable offense under Section 426 of CrPC, therefore on the same analogy, it cannot be said that women convict is entitled to bail under Section 426 CrPC …”
As such, reads the ruling, there is “no ground for suspension of sentence” of either petitioner.
The verdict was immediately condemned by the PTI, with its leaders protesting against it outside the court. Speaking with media, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan vowed to challenge the ruling in the Islamabad High Court. Another PTI leader, Kanwal Shauzab, described the ruling as a “miscarriage of justice” and lamented Khan and Bibi being kept in jail in such hot weather.
Both Khan and Bushra were sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in February after a trial court found their nikah to be fraudulent on a petition moved by her ex-husband, Khawar Maneka. It is the only case in which Khan—currently incarcerated at Adiala Jail—still faces imprisonment, preventing him from being released. He was earlier acquitted in the Toshakhana and cipher cases and has already secured bail in the £190 million case.