The Supreme Court has returned appeals filed by former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, challenging an Islamabad High Court (IHC) order that declined to decide their applications for suspension of sentence on merit in the £190 million case.
According to reports, the Supreme Court Registrar returned the appeals after raising objections, stating that the appropriate forum to challenge the IHC order is the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).
However, counsel for the couple, Salman Safdar, has contested the objection, arguing that the appeals are maintainable before the Supreme Court under Article 185(3) of the Constitution.
The petition argues that Article 175A(1)(a) allows appeals to the FCC only where expressly provided by law. It further states that while Section 32A of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999 permits a second appeal to the FCC against certain high court decisions, it does not provide for an appeal against orders on bail applications or applications for suspension of sentence under the relevant provisions of the NAO and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).