On Thursday, the sessions court was directed by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to render a verdict within ten days regarding the appeals filed by PTI founder Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi to have their sentences in the iddat case suspended.
Additionally, Sessions Court Judge Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb of the IHC directed the court to rule on the parties’ pleas challenging their convictions within a month.
On February 3, a senior civil judge found the pair guilty of getting married during Bushra Bibi’s Iddat period. Each of them received a sentence of seven years in prison and a fine of Rs 500,000.
Before Shahrukh Arjumand, the district and sessions judge, they contested the conviction; however, he withdrew his vote just as the hearing was coming to an end and the court was about to deliver the decision.
The matter was then moved to Mohammad Afzal Majoka, Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ). Nonetheless, Bushra Bibi’s attorney had petitioned the IHC for her release on bond and a sentence suspension.
Since the petitioner was requesting the same relief from a sessions court, the registrar’s office objected to the petition in several administrative ways.
Justice Aurangzeb had eliminated the administrative objections during his hearing of her attorney’s arguments on the petition the previous day. Furthermore, he said that Judge Arjumand’s justification for recusing himself was “not justified.”
Today’s hearing on Imran’s request to return the case from ADSJ Majoka to court Arjumand was presided over by the court.
On behalf of the PTI founder, advocate Salman Akram Raja said that although there were two session judges in Islamabad, the case was moved to an ADSJ.
He stated that if the IHC was unable to hear the appeals against the sentence, the matter should be transferred to a session judge rather than an ADSJ. He also suggested that the case be returned to Judge Arjumand, who had drafted a written verdict.
“A schedule for referring [the matter] to Sessions Judge West ought to be established as well,” Raja stated.
When the judge questioned him about what he needed a timeline for, he responded that one should be given so that the appeal could be heard within the allotted time.
Khawar Maneka’s attorney, Raja Rizwan Abbasi, stated that the couple was found guilty in the trial court, and a session court then considered their appeal.
He added that although his client’s lack of confidence was rejected, Judge Arjumand later withdrew his ruling after Maneka voiced a lack of confidence once more.
A judgment about the judicial side could not be decided by a single judge, according to Abbasi, who also stated that the high court had made a decision based on Judge Arjumand’s behavior.
Judge Aurangzeb stated that the IHC Chief Justice had made a decision on the matter and that everything had been made clear in the judge’s order sheet. He questioned, “What will happen even if this case is returned?
Abbasi asked the judge to rule that the application was not admissible.
The PTI founder and his spouse have requested a suspension of their sentences. The court has directed Judge Majoka to issue a ruling in the case within ten days.
Additionally, he gave the court instructions to rule on the main appeals against the convictions before the end of the month.
