Judge of Islamabad Accountability Court Muhammad Bashir, who had applied for leave from January 24 to March 14 (the date of his retirement) on health grounds, on Saturday took his application back after the Ministry of Law and Justice refused to approve it, reported a private Tv News channel, quoting its sources.  Judge Bashir is currently hearing two references against the PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi. The judge is set to retire on March 14, 2024 after the completion of his term of employment. On January 20, judge Muhammad Bashir had sought medical leave until retirement. Judge Bashir wrote a letter to the Islamabad High Court and the Ministry of Law and Justice and asked for medical leave from January 24 to March 14, 2024. Sources said that Judge Bashir had written in his letter that he could not perform his duties due to his physical condition.

It should be remembered that Judge Bashir was appointed in the accountability court by the then prime minister of Pakistan Peoples Party Yousuf Raza Gilani in the year 2012 and he is still working in the NAB court. According to the judicial law, NAB judges are appointed for a period of three years, but Judge Bashir has been performing his duties in NAB Islamabad court for the past 11 years. He was first appointed in 2012 for three years, then former premier Nawaz Sharif reappointed him in 2018 and he was again appointed as accountability court judge by then prime minister Imran Khan in 2021. He is the only judge in whose court four prime ministers including Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan appeared.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)