Bushra Bibi seeks expedited appeal hearing in Pakistan — Dawn
Busra Bibi, the wife of imprisoned former Pakistani prime minister and PTI party founder Imran Khan, has filed an urgent application with the Federal Constitutional Court asking it to schedule a hearing as soon as possible on her appeal seeking suspension of the sentence in the Al-Qadir Trust case. Dawn reports.
Bibi is serving a seven-year prison term at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. In January 2025, a court found her and Khan guilty of granting improper benefits to developer Malik Riaz during the return from the United Kingdom of his laundered funds.
Challenging the decision
In April 2025, Bibi and Khan approached the Islamabad High Court seeking suspension of the sentence. In May 2026, the court rejected Bibi's petition, stating that her appeals against the conviction had already been scheduled for hearing.
After that, Bibi approached the Supreme Court, but its registry returned the petition as inadmissible. As the registry explained, since the Islamabad High Court had issued the challenged decision under Article 32 of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999, an appeal should have been filed exclusively with the Federal Constitutional Court pursuant to Article 32-A of the ordinance.
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On July 30, Bibi filed a criminal appeal with the Federal Constitutional Court. In it, she cited her serious health condition and also stated that the prosecution had assigned her the role of an abettor rather than the perpetrator of the principal act constituting the essence of the offence.
Health condition
In a new application filed through lawyer Salman Safdar, Bibi asks for a brief hearing during the week beginning September 21. The document states that the deterioration of her eyesight threatens the preservation of her remaining vision.
According to the information set out in the application, Bibi underwent eye surgery on April 16, 2026. The application also cites information from a report by the Adiala Jail superintendent submitted to the Supreme Court: she was diagnosed with posterior vitreous detachment in her right eye. After experiencing a “black curtain” symptom and a sharp deterioration that was recognized as an ophthalmic emergency, she underwent surgery at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital.
As stated in the application, a subsequent examination in prison revealed the same condition in her previously unaffected left eye. The defense also said that Bibi's appeal against the Islamabad High Court's refusal to suspend the sentence has remained pending for about 19 months.
