ISLAMABAD:

The registrar office of the capital’s high court has stated that it is not possible this year to list for hearing the appeals filed by former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi against their conviction in the £190m case due to a backlog of pending appeals.

The registrar office has submitted a written report to a division bench led by IHC Acting Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif, which was hearing an application filed by the PTI for early listing of the appeals.

The report stated that in pursuance of a decision made by the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee (NJPMC) in its 51st meeting held on December 9, 2022, the IHC formulated a “fixation policy” on February 6, 2024 for early disposal of cases pending before it.

In its proposals, the committee had requested the high courts to expedite adjudication of appeals of convicts and un-confirmed condemned prisoners pending for more than two years.

It said special benches might be designated to expedite the adjudication of approved appeals of convicts and un-confirmed condemned prisoners pending for more than five years within two months.

According to the report, 279 appeals have been pending before the IHC. These include 63 appeals against capital punishment; 73 appeals against life imprisonment verdicts; 88 appeals against more than 7-year sentences and 55 appeals against punishments involving less than seven-year sentences.

The report stated that the oldest appeal pending in the IHC dates back to a 2017 and is filed against a death sentence verdict. It said all the appeals are being listed on their turn from the list maintained by the office which is determined from the date of institution of these appeals.

“The subject appeal [by Imran] has been filed on 31.01.2025, whereby the appellant has been sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment and lying at motion stage.

“After its admission, paper books are required to be prepared. So far it is concerned, considering the direction of the NJPMC fixation for regular hearing reproduced at para-4, is not in sight during the calendar year 2025,” it added.

An accountability court on January 18 convicted Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the £190m case, sentencing Khan to 14 years and his wife seven years in prison.

Judge Nasir Javed Rana announced the verdict — previously delayed three times — in a makeshift courtroom at Adiala Jail.

The court also imposed a fine worth Rs1 million on the PTI founder and Rs0.5 million on Bushra. In case of failing to submit the fine, Imran would face an additional six-month imprisonment while Bushra Bibi would have to serve three more months in jail.