KP Assembly assails Centre for non-release of Bushra Bibi despite bail

PESHAWAR: Treasury members in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Wednesday condemned the non-release of Bushra Bibi despite her bail.

Speaking in the provincial assembly, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker Shafiullah said that the high court had granted bail to Bushra Bibi, the spouse of PTI founder and ex-premier Imran Khan, in the Toshakhana case.

However, when their lawyers took the decision to the judges, the judges were mysteriously absent. When the lawyers approached the third and fourth judges on duty, they refused to sign the release papers.

“What message is being given to us? The courts in this country are not independent. Do not force us to adopt the path of conflict, we want to follow the constitution and the law of the law,” he said.

Criticising the provincial president of the Awami National Party (ANP), Shafiullah added that Aimal Wali changed his domicile for a Senate seat and struck deals overnight for constitutional amendments.

“Imran Khan defeated him in his ancestral area. You are not even eligible to be a councillor. Due to you, the blood of 80,000 shed in the war against terrorism, and you sold that blood for money,” he alleged while referring to Aimal Wali Khan.

The enraged lawmaker claimed that the country cannot progress or stabilize without Imran Khan’s release. Terming it an attack on democracy and independence of judiciary, he said the constitutional amendments passed in the darkness of the night will be a burden on the government.

Meanwhile, PTI member Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani expressed grievances against his own government, saying that the resolution he had passed was discarded.

He said that no examination had been conducted for the PMS posts since 2020. Previously, graduation was a two-year programme, but now it was a four-year BS programme. Candidates are demanding a three-year age relaxation. A letter has been written for a new advertisement, allowing new candidates to participate, while over-age candidates will be deprived.

He said that no action had been taken on their resolution, which was a matter of the house’s dignity.

He urged the house that the requisition for recruitment be halted.

Upon this, Housing Minister Amjad Ali requested the Panel of Chairmen to instruct the Assembly Secretariat to send the said resolution to the cabinet so that it can be included in the agenda and implemented.