The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday suspended the 14-year prison time for former PM Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi in the case connected with the illegal selling of state gifts, confirmed Khan’s lawyer.
Last year, in August, Khan received a three-year prison sentence from the Election Commission for selling gifts worth over 140 million rupees ($501,000) acquired during his 2018-2022 premiership. Subsequently, following an investigation in January by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) into the same charges, Khan and his wife were handed 14-year jail terms.
Lawyer Naeem Haider Panjutha, who is representing Khan took social media to share the suspension news. “Congratulations to the nation. The punishment was suspended for Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi in the toshakhana NAB appeal,” he said on X.
The case was widely known as the toshakhana cases, referring to the state repository of gifts.
According to local media reports, the top court of Pakistan has ordered to release Khan and his wife on bail but it is unlikely that they will be released, as they face several other cases and convictions.
Khan was sentenced a day after his close aide, former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, received 10-year jail terms for leaking state secrets. The chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was disqualified from holding public office for 10 years as his sentencing accrued just a week before the general election, which were scheduled for 8th February.
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