Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday adjourned the hearing of the appeal against the conviction in the £190 million corruption case until May 20 after accepting a request by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan's lawyer Barrister Salman Safdar.
In January last year, an Islamabad accountability court sentenced Imran to 14 years and Bushra Bibi to seven years in prison in the reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The IHC is currently hearing appeals seeking suspension of these sentences.
Safdar, on Wednesday, filed a miscellaneous petition in the IHC seeking the adjournment and also sought permission to meet his client to obtain instructions and have the power of attorney signed.
Imran Khan's lawyer stated that their involvement had thus far been limited to handling applications for the suspension of sentences, with no formal engagement in the main appeals, as the necessary Powers of Attorney had not been signed by their clients.
The case was heard by a two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif. NAB Special Prosecutors Javed Arshad and Rafiq Maqsood appeared before the court, while Barrister Safdar was not present and was represented by his junior counsel.