ISLAMABAD: Islamabad District and Sessions Courts Additional Sessions Judge Afzal Majoka have adjourned the hearing of appeals filed by Bushra Bibi, founder of PTI, against her sentence in the Iddat Nikkah case.
Bushra Bibi’s legal team, including Khalid Yusuf Chaudhry and Usman Riaz Gul, appeared in court.
PTI lawyers submitted the written order of the Islamabad High Court on Thursday.
Usman Riaz Gul urged the court to hold the hearing the same day, stating, “We are still available today, listen to us today.”
Judge Afzal Majoka responded, “I downloaded and read the judgment myself last night.”
He noted that he had reviewed the IHC verdict and must decide on the suspension of the sentence by June 27.
“It’s not possible for tomorrow; set the date for next Friday,” Judge Majoka stated, adding, “If I live, I will decide in 10 days. If the other party does not appear, I will hear you and decide.”
Judge Majoka concluded by saying, “I am writing the order. There will be something bigger than the notice; look at the history.”
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued a mandate for a swift resolution in the appeal concerning the Iddat case involving Imran Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and his wife, Bushra Bibi.
On February 3, Imran and Bushra Bibi were sentenced in the Iddat Nikkah case. Twenty days later, an appeal against the verdict was filed in the sessions court. Initially presided over by Judge Arjumand, the case faced a delay prompting a transfer request to the IHC.
Subsequently, the IHC assigned Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka to the case. Imran and Bibi contested this decision through lawyer Salman Akram Raja, although the registrar’s office maintained the appeal’s pending status before the sessions court.
Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb, leading the hearing, today instructed the sessions court to resolve Bushra Bibi’s plea for sentence suspension within 10 days and ordered a decision on the appeal within a month.
During the proceedings, Salman Akram Raja expressed concerns over the sudden transfer of the case and urged the court to direct Judge Shah Rukh Arjumand to deliver the reserved verdict. Raja proposed that the high court itself could take up the appeal or reassign it to Judge West for expedited resolution, emphasizing the trial’s swift conclusion in two days as a benchmark for urgency.
Raja Rizwan Abbasi, representing Khawar Maneka, contested the transfer, arguing that objections had been previously dismissed, and the administrative decision to assign the appeals to Additional Session Judge West was final.
After deliberation, Justice Aurangzeb reaffirmed the court’s direction, assigning Additional Session Judge Afzal Majoka to decide on both the suspension request and the appeal within the stipulated timeframes.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
