Serious questions have emerged over the prolonged delay in the appeals filed by Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi against their Toshakhana-II convictions.
According to reports, the appeals were initially assigned to a bench headed by Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro. After the court reportedly removed procedural objections and directed that the appeals be formally numbered for hearing, the case was subsequently transferred from that bench.
Reports further claim that the bench was changed without the consent of the presiding judge and that, more than three months later, no new bench has been constituted to hear the appeals.
The appeals, filed on 29 December 2025 against the trial court’s 20 December 2025 judgment sentencing Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi to 10 years’ imprisonment each, have reportedly not received a regular hearing despite more than six months having passed.
On 12 March, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro had reportedly ordered that objections be removed and indicated that the appeals would likely be fixed for hearing the following week. However, no substantive hearing has taken place, and it has now emerged, according to the reports, that the case had been withdrawn from his bench.
The reported delay has raised further questions about the handling of the appeals and why, after more than six months, no regular hearing has yet been scheduled.