RAWALPINDI: Islamabad Accountability Court (AC) Judge Muhammad Bashir, who had applied for leave till retirement on March 14, withdrew his application after the Law and Justice Ministry refused to approve it.
Judge Bashir is currently hearing two references against PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi.
He is scheduled to retire on March 14, 2024, upon completion of his term of employment.
On January 20, Judge Bashir had sought medical leave until retirement on health grounds. He had penned a letter to the Islamabad High Court and the Ministry of Law and Justice, for medical leave from January 24 to March 14, 2024.
In the letter, Bashir had mentioned that he could not perform his duties due to his ‘poor health’.
He was posted as judge accountability court in the year 2012 by the then prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Under the law, NAB judges are appointed for a period of three years, but Bashir has been officiating Accountability Court for the past 11 years.
Initially, he was posted to the accountability court in 2012, for three years, which was, later, extended in 2018 by the then premier Nawaz Sharif. He was again appointed as judge accountability court in 2021 by the PTI government.
It is to be noted that Bashir is the only judge in whose court four prime ministers, including Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan appeared.
