Pakistan court disposes Bushra Bibi’s plea seeking transfer to Adiala jail

Islamabad: A Pakistani high court on Tuesday disposed of a petition filed by Bushra Bibi seeking her transfer to the high-security Adiala jail, where her husband, former prime minister Imran Khan is incarcerated.

The Islamabad High Court disposed of her petition as her lawyers failed to turn up before the court.

Bushra Bibi is currently jailed at Bani Gala—71-year-old Khan's home in Islamabad—which was turned into a sub-jail since she was sentenced in the ‘un-Islamic nikah’ case in February.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) disposed of a petition filed by the 49-year-old former first lady, seeking her transfer from Bani Gala to the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, the Dawn reported.

Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb disposed of the petition after Bushra Bibi's lawyers failed to appear before the court.

Questioning why Bushra Bibi's counsels were absent, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb said, “If they had won this case, Bushra Bibi would have gone to [Adiala] jail, but they (lawyers) themselves do not want Bushra Bibi to go to jail.” Bushra Bibi’s counsel, Usman Gill, who reached the court after the plea's disposal, was asked by the judge to file an application to restore it.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party founder Khan has been lodged in the Adiala Jail since August last year.

Earlier in January, Khan and Bushra Bibi were sentenced to 14 years in jail in the Toshakhana corruption case about the illegal sale of state gifts, which the former premier received during his term.

Following the verdict, Bushra arrived at Adiala Jail to surrender to the authorities and was subsequently taken into custody by the National Accountability Bureau.

However, she was moved to her Bani Gala residence after it was declared a sub-jail in a late-night notification, the report said.

While their sentences in the Toshakhana corruption case were suspended by the IHC, Bushra Bibi remains in custody in the 'un-Islamic' marriage case, while Khan also remains incarcerated in other cases.

Bushra Bibi's shifting has been under discussion for weeks as the former first couple has denied submitting any application to declare their residence a sub-jail.

Almost a week after her arrest, she challenged the residence’s status as a sub-jail, urging the IHC to let her complete her 14-year sentence in Adiala Jail.

In a subsequent hearing, the court was informed by the authorities of Adiala Jail that Bushra Bibi could not be shifted to the prison due to a “security threat”.

On Monday, Bushra Bibi moved the IHC seeking a medical examination at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital, which is owned by Khan's charitable organisation, after alleging that she was poisoned while incarcerated at Bani Gala.

Earlier this month, during the hearing of a corruption case in the Adiala jail Khan informed the judge that there had been an attempt to poison his wife and said that she had marks on her skin and tongue as a side effect of the 'poisoning'.

Since his removal from power in a no-confidence motion in April 2022, the cricketer-turned-politician has been convicted in at least four cases, including the cipher (secret diplomatic communication) case.