ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is unlikely to schedule a hearing on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s appeal against his conviction in the £190 million case during the year 2025, the court’s registrar office has said.
According to a written report submitted to the IHC, the appeal — which challenges a 14-year jail sentence handed down in the case — was filed on January 31 2025.
The registrar’s office clarified that the case was still at the “motion stage” and would only proceed once paper books were prepared and it reaches its turn on the court’s roster, Geo News reported.
The report outlines that, under directives from the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee, a case fixation policy has been put in place to prioritise hearings based strictly on case order.
Consequently, Khan’s appeal cannot be prioritised over older pending cases. Currently, 279 appeals by convicted individuals are pending before the IHC.
These include 63 against the death penalty, 73 against life imprisonment, 88 involving sentences over seven years, and 55 for sentences under seven years. The oldest pending death penalty appeal dates back to 2017.
The registrar’s report reaffirms that, in line with judicial policy, all appeals are scheduled based on their sequence, and there is no prospect of early listing for Khan’s appeal in the current year.
The Al-Qadir Trust case, commonly known as the £190m case involved allegations that Khan and some others in 2019 adjusted Rs50 billion — amounting to £190 million at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government during his tenure as the country’s prime minister.
The concerned amount relates to a property tycoon’s assets which were seized by the NCA during PTI’s rule. The British crime agency back then had said that the amount was supposed to be passed to the Government of Pakistan as its settlement with the Pakistani property tycoon was “a civil matter, and does not represent a finding of guilt”.
However, the NAB filed a reference in December 2023, followed by charges against Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, on February 27, 2024, alleging that a settlement with the British crime agency was reached and approved by then-prime minister Khan on December 3, 2019, without disclosing details of the confidential agreement.
