Iddat case: IHC orders sessions court to decide on sentence suspension in 10 days

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday directed a district and sessions court to decide the pleas seeking the suspension of sentence of former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the iddat case in 10 days.

The IHC further ordered the court to decide on the pleas challenging the conviction of couple in the said case in one month. The development comes as Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard multiple pleas filed by Imran Khan and Bushra.

During the hearing at the IHC, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Khan’s lawyer Salman Akram Raja sought the announcement of the verdict reserved by Judge Arjumand. He urged the IHC to either hear the appeals itself or transfer them to the additional sessions judge West. He said that the court should set a time for the sessions court to decide the appeals.

Maneka’s counsel Rizwan Abbasi opposed the transfer of appeals to a sessions judge and contended that the court’s administrative orders cannot be challenged directly or indirectly.

In his petition, the PTI chief had sought the announcement of the district and sessions court’s reserved verdict and had further requested the high court to hear the appeals in the said case. Meanwhile, Bushra has sought a decision on her plea seeking sentence suspension in the iddat case. Last week, the former first lady also moved the IHC seeking suspension of her sentence. A trial court had then handed down a seven-year sentence to the couple in February and imposed a fine of Rs500,000 each on the duo.