Imran Khan’s wife expresses ‘lack of confidence’ in judge

Islamabad: Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi on Friday expressed a lack of confidence in a judge hearing an alleged corruption case at an accountability court, a media report said.

The remarks, however, were taken back by Khan and his lawyers later.

At the beginning of the hearing of the UK Pound 190 million NCA scandal case at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, Bushra Bibi came to the rostrum and expressed a lack of faith in the accountability court’s judge, The News International reported.

The ‘UK Pound 190 million National Crime Agency (NCA)’ scandal refers to a case filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Khan, his wife and others accusing them of connivance to commit corruption and resorting to corrupt practices as defined and punishable under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999.

The News International portal said Bibi, the wife of the incarcerated founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, entered the courtroom in aggressive mode and sat separately from the ex-prime minister, his sisters and her daughters.

“Later, she came to the rostrum and told the judge that she was neither having faith in the judges who were hearing previous cases nor she had confidence in this court. She complained about not being informed about a hearing scheduled for May 15 at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail,” it said.

When the judge remarked that the May 15 hearing was deferred, she went on to say that she was not a prisoner in the NCA scandal case but she was jailed due to “injustice.”

“After Bushra’s remarks, Imran came to the rostrum and asked his spouse to go with him to the family corner. However, she chose not to meet even her daughters who were sitting next to Imran’s sisters. She met her daughters when a separate room was given to them,” it added.

During the hearing, the PTI founder kept going towards his lawyers, wife, sisters and lawyers in the courtroom. He was also seen whispering to his wife many times.

Ultimately, the former prime minister and his lawyers sought time from the accountability court to convince Bushra Bibi to take back her expression of lacking faith in the judge. The report, however, did not name the judge.

The hearing was stopped thrice following the lawyers’ requests.

“After detailed discussions, Khan and his lawyers apprised the judge to take back lack of confidence remarks. They also pleaded with the court to conduct the next hearing after 15 days, as well as submitted a plea in response to the court notices issued on Thursday,” it said, adding, the court then adjourned the hearing till May 22 without testifying any of the witnesses.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had approved the PTI founder's bail petition in the UK Pound 190 million NCA settlement reference and ordered the authorities to release Khan against the surety bond of Rs 1 million.