ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have filed an appeal before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the dismissal of their acquittal plea in the Toshakhana case.

While the appeal was filed through their attorneys, Barrister Salman Safdar and Advocate Khalid Yousuf Chaudhry, Bushra Bibi personally appeared in the court to complete biometric verification.

She then proceeded to the anti-terrorism court where Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra granted her interim bail in 13 additional cases till Feb 7, requiring a surety bond of Rs5,000 for each case.

Before the judge, Bushra Bibi expressed her dismay, criticising the judicial process and highlighting the challenges faced by her family.

Bushra Bibi tells judge she has lost trust in courts

Trust in courts

“Our trust in the courts has been lost. After what happened to Imran Khan and us, we have lost faith in the law. I have witnessed judges fall ill and tremble under pressure during the trials,” she remarked, adding that the legal actions seemed aimed at undermining justice.

On the other hand, special judge Shahrukh Arjumand presided over a hearing in the Toshakhana case in Adiala jail.

Mr Khan was produced in court where proceedings mainly focused on witness testimonies and cross-examinations.

The defence counsel completed the cross-examination of witness Mohammad Ahmed, while the preliminary cross-examination of witness Talat Hussain was also conducted.

Ex-MS summoned

In a significant development, the court summoned two additional witnesses, former military secretary Brig Muhammad Ahmed and former deputy military secretary Col Rehman to record their statements at the next hearing.

The court earlier recorded the statements of two witnesses, Qaiser and Umar Siddique. With this, a total of seven witness statements have been recorded in the case so far. So far, the cross-examinations of four witnesses have been completed.

The court adjourned the hearing till Jan 16.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2025