ISLAMABAD, Jun 29: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday disposed of contempt of court petitions filed against the Adiala Jail superintendent over the alleged non-provision of signed vakalatnamas (powers of attorney) to PTI founder and his wife, Bushra Bibi, declaring the matter infructuous after the documents were made available.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif directed the parties to proceed with final arguments in the appeals against the convictions in the £190 million case. However, on the request of the defence, the hearing was adjourned for two weeks.

During the proceedings, defence counsel Barrister Salman Safdar informed the court that although signed vakalatnamas relating to Supreme Court proceedings had been provided, documents required for matters pending before the IHC were still awaited.

He requested the court to direct prison authorities to facilitate the remaining documentation.

Chief Justice Dogar observed that the contempt petitions had become ineffective after the vakalatnamas were signed and assured counsel that the remaining documents would also be provided.

Advocate General Islamabad Naveed Hayat Malik argued that the defence had misled the court during the previous hearing, maintaining that the vakalatnamas had been signed on June 16 and that prison authorities had already contacted the lawyers to collect them.

When Barrister Salman Safdar submitted that he had challenged the suspension-of-sentence proceedings before the Supreme Court and had not yet received fresh instructions from his clients to argue the appeals, the bench indicated that if the defence was unwilling to proceed, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) would be asked to begin its arguments.

Later, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and senior counsel Latif Khosa requested two weeks to enable the legal team to meet their clients and obtain further instructions. Accepting the request, the court recorded the undertaking in its order and adjourned the hearing for two weeks.