ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thusday issued notice to the accountability watchdog on bail petitions filed by former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi in the new Toshakhana reference.

Mr Khan and his spouse, who were taken into custody following their acquittal in the Iddat case, have pleaded they were illegally remanded into NAB’s custody, which has affected their fundamental rights of liberty.

The couple’s petition was initially taken up on July 25 by a division bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz. However, the former prime minister’s counsel asked the IHC CJ to recuse himself from the case.

He said since Mr Khan had filed a complaint against him in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), he should not hear the case.

LHC to hear former first lady’s petition against arrest

The counsel requested the case be transferred to another bench.

Even though Chief Justice Farooq rejected the request for refusal, he had to form a new bench as Justice Imtiaz went on summer vacation, and the previous bench was dissolved.

The case was then moved to a separate division bench comprising Justices Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Arbab Muhammad Tahir.

LHC removes objection

The Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi on Thursday overruled an objection on Ms Bibi’s petition against her arrest in the third Toshakhana case.

The judge removed the registrar’s office’s objection on maintainability of the petition and directed it to be fixed for a hearing.

The petition, filed through Advocate Sardar Latif Khosa, stated that Ms Bibi and her husband had been granted bail in the Toshakhana case, but they were re arrested in a new case with malicious intent.

It claimed that during the arrest, female officials assaulted and humiliated the petitioner in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.

She was arrested without a warrant from the NAB chairman and was imprisoned as an act of political victimisation, the petition claimed.

It urged the court to take action against the jail superintendent and the female officials involved in the alleged assault on the petitioner and declare Ms Bibi’s arrest illegal.

Wajih Ahmad Sheikh in Lahore also contributed to this report.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2024