The Islamabad high court has granted a request by Bushra Bibi, wife of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, to shift to jail, instead of house arrest as ordered by the government because of ‘security concerns’.
Bushra Bibi, who has been detained at Imran Khan’s mansion in Islamabad’s Bani Gala area since the couple’s January conviction on charges of illegally selling state gifts, had challenged the house arrest, her lawyer Naeem Panjutha posted on social media platform X.
Through her lawyers Bushra Bibi had filed an appeal in the Islamabad High Court, asking to be shifted to Adiala jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where Khan, 70, is serving his 14-year sentence, his party said in a statement.
In January this year, the chief commissioner of Islamabad had notified Imran’s Islamabad house as a sub jail till further orders and it was decided to house Bushra Bibi there, as there were security threats at Adiala Jail.
In her petition to court, Bushra Bibi had said she did not feel safe to be confined alone in the sub jail as she had seen the movement of unidentified people there. She also prayed that she be treated like any other prisoner and be lodged in a jail, just like her husband and his party workers.
In his verdict, Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb of Islamabad High Court annulled the government notification that declared Khan’s property as sub jail.
The judge said: “It appears that the decision to relocate Bushra Bibi to Bani Gala had been predetermined. If I am forcibly confined to my home, I would be deeply pleased. How can a prisoner’s property be converted into a sub-jail against his or her will?”, The Express Tribune reported.
Bushra Bibi is Khan’s third wife and has a reputation of being a spiritual leader. Little is known about her personal life, and she is usually seen in public wearing a face veil.
(With inputs from Reuters)
