The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has turned down a request seeking directions for a trial court to expeditiously decide a bail application submitted by former minister Fawad Chaudhry.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard the application that stated that Islamabad Accountability Court-I judge was not hearing the bail application submitted by Chaudhry who is currently detained in connection with a corruption case.

The application requested the court to order the accountability court to hear the bail plea urgently.

Turning down the request, Justice Farooq noted that the accountability court judge, Muhammad Bashir, was ill and that a new judge, Nasir Javed Rana, has recently replaced him.

When Chaudhry’s lawyer requested the court to direct the newly appointed judge to address the application, the IHC chief justice noted that this would not be appropriate as Rana is a senior jurist.

“Wait till the next hearing of the case, If the trial court does not address the application, then we will issue directions,” he noted.