ISLAMABAD: Authorities concerned in the government are relaxed as they don’t see Imran Khan’s release from jail in the foreseeable future.
While PTI is celebrating Imran Khan’s bail by the Supreme Court in eight May 9 related cases, the calculations of the other side do not make them uneasy either.
While the PTI and its supporters are eager to see Imran Khan out of the jail, the other side does not see it happening in the near future.
As per the announced policy of the superior judiciary, Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s appeals against their conviction in Al-Qadir trust case are months away from hearing in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The IHC had already made it public that these appeals would be fixed for hearing next year. The National Judicial Policy Making Committee’s direction about the priority to be given to different nature of appeals, also makes Imran Khan’s case less important for early hearing.
The details already shared with the media shows that 279 criminal appeals are presently pending before the IHC. These include 63 appeals against death sentence; 73 appeals involving life imprisonment; 88 appeals, including those of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, with sentence seven years and above; and 55 appeals of convicts who were jailed for up to seven years.
Imran Khan’s appeal in the Al-Qadir Trust case, a 14-year sentence, appears in the third group.
The details show that the oldest case, a death sentence appeal from 2017, was still waiting its turn. As per the IHC policy, every case was to be fixed on their turn from the list maintained by the registrar office determined from the date of institution. There was no skipping the line.
The NJPMC’s explicit command was to clear the older, more severe sentences first. Following the decision made by the NJPMC in its 51st meeting held on 09.12.2022, the IHC had formulated a “Fixation Policy” on 06.02.2023 for the early disposal of the cases pending before it. With regard to the disposal of appeals filed by convicts, the decision of NJPMC was incorporated into the “Fixation Policy” by the IHC.
The high courts were requested by the committee to expedite the adjudication of appeals of convicts and un-confirmed condemned prisoners pending for more than two years.
The committee had added that special benches may be designated to expedite the adjudication of appeals of convicts and un-confirmed condemned prisoners pending for more than five years within two months. Imran Khan’s appeal was filed on 31.01.2025.
With such a scenario, the government sources expect decisions of several cases against Imran Khan will be decided before his appeal in Al Qadir Trust by the IHC.
