Judge Muhammad Bashir, who had sentenced several prime ministers, senior officials, and politicians, has retired after serving as an Accountability Court judge for 12 years. During his tenure, he had sentenced Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan, and his wife, among others. Judge Muhammad Bashir was appointed to the Accountability Court on March 13, 2012, and retired in 2021. Imran Khan, the Prime Minister, and founding chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was sentenced to 14 years in prison and disqualified from holding any public office for 10 years, along with his wife, Bushra Bibi.
Both were also fined one billion 57 crore rupees. Earlier, in 2018, Judge Muhammad Bashir had convicted Nawaz Sharif, the leader of Pakistan Muslim League-N, and sentenced him to a year in prison, barred him from holding public office for 10 years, confiscation of all property, and a fine of more than 3 billion rupees. On October 24, 2023, five years later, Nawaz Sharif was granted bail in the Tosha Khana case and appeared once again in the court of Judge Muhammad Bashir.
On this occasion, Judge Muhammad Bashir addressed Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer, Qazi Misbah, and made an interesting statement, which sparked a lot of comments on social media. Judge Muhammad Bashir is the administrative judge of the three courts of NAB Islamabad. According to the rules of the Ministry of Law of Pakistan, NAB judges are appointed for three years, but Judge Muhammad Bashir has been serving in the NAB Court No. 1 of Islamabad for the last 11 years. Muhammad Bashir was initially appointed as a judge in the Accountability Court in 2012 by Pakistan People’s Party Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, and his three-year term was supposed to end in 2015.
However, on the recommendation of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) administration in 2015, Mulsum League (N) appointed Judge Muhammad Bashir as the judge of the Accountability Court until 2018 by extending his tenure. After reaching retirement age at the beginning of this year, Muhammad Bashir’s tenure was again extended for three years. Interestingly, Muhammad Bashir had faced six prime ministers in his court, and among these prime ministers, three had given him an extension. These three prime ministers, Yusuf Raza Gilani of the People’s Party,
Nawaz Sharif of the Muslim League (N), and Imran Khan of Tehreek-e-Insaaf, had to face their punishment. Mian Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labor after being found guilty in the Avenfield reference, which was decided by Judge Muhammad Bashir of the NAB court. However, none of the accused, including Nawaz Sharif, was present in the courtroom on this occasion. Former Prime Minister and Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan also appeared in Judge Muhammad Bashir’s court due to the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Pervez Ashraf Reshma, the accused in the reference related to the Saadiran, Ratodero, Satyana, and Gulf Power Plant projects, appeared in the court of Judge Muhammad Bashir with his lawyers. Former Caretaker Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi faced Judge Muhammad Bashir in the LNG reference. Former Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif also appeared in Judge Muhammad Bashir’s court for bail. Muhammad Bashir belongs to the Dera Ismail Khan area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Born in 1958, Muhammad Bashir’s ancestors migrated from India and settled in the Indo-speaking region of South Pakhtunkhwa. Muhammad Bashir received his early education from Dera Ismail Khan and later studied at Gomal University and Peshawar. He received an LLM in Law from Punjab University in 1990. Muhammad Bashir was appointed as a Civil Judge in the Subordinate Judiciary and was later promoted to the posts of Additional Sessions Judge and District and Sessions Judge
