IHC Directs Authorities To Shift Bushra Bibi To Adiala Jail

IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced the reserved verdict on the plea filed by Bushra Bibi seeking her transfer to the Adiala jail.

IHC Directs Authorities To Shift Bushra Bibi To Adiala Jail

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the authorities on Wednesday to shift former Prime Minister Imran Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, from the Bani Gala sub-prison to the Adiala jail. 

IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced a reserved judgment on Bushra Bibi's plea for her transfer to Adiala jail, where her husband is now detained. 

On May 2, the high court reserved the verdict after hearing the arguments. The superintendent of jail stated that they were unable to accept Bushra Bibi due to overcrowding and security concerns. 

The court also declared the notification classifying Bushra Bibi's apartment in Bani Gala as a sub-jail "null and void."

Bushra was placed under house arrest at her home in Bani Gala on January 31, following her conviction in the Toshakhana case. At the request of the Adiala jail superintendent, officials declared the Bani Gala residence a "sub-jail" in order to detain the former first lady. 

On February 6, Bushra disputed the authorities' decision to confine her at Bani Gala to serve a 14-year term for the case. 

In the plea, Khan's wife stated that, like other party political activists, she was ready and willing to spend her prison time in the "Ordinary Jail Premises at Adiala Jail, rather than the declared sub-jail at her residence.".

Bushra and Khan were sentenced to 14 years in prison each after Judge Muhammad Bashir of the accountability court announced the conviction in the case involving the illicit sale of state goods from Toshakhana. 

The court also barred the former prime minister from holding public office for ten years and imposed a fine of Rs 1.57 billion (787 million each) on Khan and his wife.