Last Updated on October 14, 2026 by YeJahan
YEJAHAN REPORT
ISLAMABAD (Oct 14): Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has rejected an application by Bushra Bibi, the wife of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, to suspend her seven-year prison sentence in the high-profile £190 million Al-Qadir Trust corruption case.
A two-judge bench, presided over by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan and including Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, reserved its ruling earlier in the day before dismissing the plea on Wednesday. The court directed defence counsel Salman Safdar to submit written arguments ahead of a detailed written judgment.
A widening legal battle
The decision deals a blow to the Khan family, who have faced a relentless stream of legal battles since Imran Khan was ousted in 2022. With their political heartland of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also out of their control, the PTI is facing a major setback, especially since they ruled the province until the federal government stepped in, declaring a state of emergency and imposing governor’s rule.
The Al-Qadir Trust case centres on allegations that Khan and his wife provided illicit financial favours to Pakistani property tycoon Malik Riaz.
Prosecutors allege that the couple helped Riaz secure the return of £190 million ($250 million) in laundered assets seized by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) in 2019. Instead of flowing into the national treasury, the state claims the funds were channeled back to the developer in exchange for valuable land gifted to a university trust run by the Khans.
The key cases in which Bushra received sentences are the trial court’s seven-year imprisonment order (handed down on 17 January 2025) and the case involving a financial scale of £190 million (approximately Rs 50 billion in 2019). The core allegation she faces is that land gifts were traded for the recovery of British-seized assets.
Failing medical grounds
Bushra Bibi, who has been held in Rawalpindi’s high-security Adiala jail since her conviction, had petitioned the court in July requesting immediate suspension of her sentence. Her defence argued that under Section 497(1) of Pakistan’s Code of Criminal Procedure, she deserved leniency as a female prisoner suffering from a rapidly deteriorating ocular condition.
Her legal team, supported by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, warned that prolonged solitary confinement and inadequate prison care posed an irreversible threat to her remaining eyesight. Raja had previously disclosed that his client underwent surgery on one eye in April 2026 and required specialised attention.
Copyright YeJahan News Network, 2026
