IHC to hear Imran, Bushra's pleas against conviction in £190m reference on April 30

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday fixed appeals filed by former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi against conviction in the £190 million corruption reference for tomorrow (April 30).

According to the supplementary cause list issued by the registrar’s office, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif will take up Crl. Appeal 63/2025 (filed by Imran) and Crl. Appeal 64/2025 (filed by Bushra) on Thursday.

Both appeals challenge the convictions under the Pakistan Penal Code with sentences exceeding seven years.

The cause list mentioned that miscellaneous applications — including those seeking suspension of sentence along with objections — were also pending before the court.

The development comes a day after the same bench, during the hearing of separate petitions seeking suspension of sentence in the £190m corruption reference, indicated a structured timeline for concluding arguments in the main appeals.

Earlier this month, IHC CJ Dogar observed that if arguments on the appeals commenced, the court could decide the matter within seven days. “We will fix the appeal for two days every week — you meet your client and assist the court,” the chief justice told Barrister Salman Safdar, who is the counsel for the PTI founder.

Imran — imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023, for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts — is serving a 14-year sentence at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in the £190m case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case.

An accountability court in Islamabad had sentenced Imran and Bushra to 14 and seven years in prison, respectively, on Jan 17, 2025, in the case. Subsequently, both had challenged their convictions before the IHC.

The case alleges that the couple obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd to legalise Rs50 billion identified and returned to the country by the United Kingdom during the PTI government.