ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan on Friday said that his wife Bushra Bibi neither joined politics nor intends to do so.
While talking to reporters outside Adiala Jail after the hearing of the Al-Qadir Trust case, Khan’s counsel Faisal Chaudhry said that Khan, while responding to a question about the reports that Bushra Bibi has joined politics, said that his wife has nothing to do with politics.
“She has neither joined politics nor will do politics”, Chaudhry said while quoting Khan.
According to Chaudhry, Khan further clarified that Bushra Bibi just conveyed his message to the party leadership as the government did not allow his party leaders for the last eight to 10 weeks to meet with him. “Due to these limitations, someone had to pass on Khan’s messages to the leadership,” Chaudhry added.
To a question, Chaudhry said that Khan is not in Bani Gala, he is in jail, and even there, his access to his party leadership is restricted, he said, adding that under such circumstances, someone has to convey his messages to the party leadership.
He said that about 26 constitutional amendments, Khan said “the judiciary has become a department of the government after the 26 constitutional amendments.”
He urged the nation to rally on November 24 in support of judicial independence, calling it a crucial moment for Pakistan’s democracy, Chaudhry said.
Chaudhry said that Khan also directed his political team to engage with other opposition parties and invite them to join the movement for restoring judicial independence.
Earlier, the Accountability Court judge, Nasir Javed Rana, while hearing Al-Qadir Trust case against Khan and his wife at Adiala jail, Rawalpindi, adjourned the hearing till November 18. The jail authorities presented Khan before the court.
At the start of the hearing, Khan’s legal team filed an application before the court seeking exemption for Bushra Bibi on medical grounds which the court has approved.
Khan’s lawyer, Salman Akram Raja, informed the court that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had directed that the accused’s acquittal applications be decided before proceeding further. However, the Accountability Court judge noted that he had not yet received any order regarding this.
Khan’s lawyer said that we are submitting in writing that IHC has directed to decide first on the accused acquittal applications.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor said that those lawyers who argued before IHC these lawyers should have informed the court in writing regarding IHC directives. However, if the lawyer submitting it in writing then the court should look into this matter, he said.
He said that the lawyers who argued in IHC have not signed these applications.
The court after hearing the arguments of both parties adjourned the hearing till November 18.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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