On Saturday, the request for leave that Judge Muhammad Bashir of the Islamabad Accountability Court-I, who is currently presiding over several high-profile cases, submitted could not be granted.
From the 24th of January until the day he retired, he had requested a leave of absence from his duties due to medical reasons. It is scheduled that the judge will hang up his robes on March 14th.
The Ministry of Law and Justice, on the other hand, did not grant his request. After the application was rejected, the judge decided to withdraw his application.
In an earlier statement, the judge reiterated his view that he was unable to carry out his responsibilities because of his poor health.
The referrals that have been filed against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) are currently being heard by Judge Bashir. These references are related to the suspected misuse of the official gifts repository as well as their role in a massive scam that involved £190 million.
In addition, the high-profile case that centers on Toshakhana automobiles and involves former Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Yousaf Raza Gilani, as well as former President Asif Ali Zardari, is now being heard in his court.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has made a reference against former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and he is also hearing a case against Zardari about a false account.
The former Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, and his son-in-law Captain Safdar were all sentenced by Judge Muhammad Bashir in July of 2018, for their involvement in the Avenfield reference. It was on November 29 of the previous year that the IHC reversed the verdict.
A period of time that is particularly long has been spent by Judge Muhammad Bashir, who was appointed in 2012, during the time that Prime Minister Gilani was in office. Judge Bashir has been sitting in the National Accountability Board court for eleven years, despite the fact that accountability court judges are normally appointed for a period of three years.
A number of former Prime Ministers, including Nawaz Sharif in 2018 and Imran Khan in 2021, have appointed him during his term.
In the course of his judicial career, Judge Bashir has been a witness to the appearances of four prime ministers: Raja Pervez Ashraf, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Nawaz Sharif, and Imran Khan. This is a singular and historically noteworthy part of his career.
