Shafaqna Pakistan: The legal counsel for former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, and the authorities at Adiala Jail presented conflicting accounts on Monday regarding the preparation and delivery of powers of attorney (PoAs) required for the couple’s representation before the Islamabad High Court in the £190 million case.
In a written response submitted to the court, the superintendent of Adiala Jail stated that the PoAs signed by Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi had been prepared on June 16 in compliance with court directives. The response further claimed that their lawyer, Barrister Salman Safdar, was informed on the same day through a text message.
The jail administration alleged that Barrister Salman Safdar had misrepresented the facts before the court concerning the availability of the documents.
According to the reply, Safdar was notified via text message that the signed PoAs were ready for collection. To support its position, the jail authorities attached a screenshot of the message with the submission filed before the Islamabad High Court.
The superintendent further contended that despite being informed, the legal team representing Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi deliberately did not collect the documents before the hearing held on June 18.
Responding to the jail authorities’ claims, Barrister Salman Safdar strongly disputed the superintendent’s version of events.
Safdar told The Express Tribune that members of his legal team visited Adiala Jail five to six times over the past four weeks to obtain the powers of attorney but were not provided with the documents.
He stated that advocates Sarmad, Ahmad Maysar and Khalid Yousaf approached Adiala Jail on more than five occasions to secure the documents.
According to Safdar, the repeated unsuccessful attempts compelled the legal team to file a contempt petition before the Islamabad High Court on the morning of June 15. “After filing the contempt petition, it was conveyed for the first time that we could collect a POA executed only by Imran Khan Sahib and not by Bushra Bibi. This was unacceptable for us,” Safdar said.
Source: Express Tribune
