By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has raised objections to a petition from the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province seeking permission to meet Imran Khan, the jailed founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, in a case that underscores ongoing controversies over access to the former prime minister amid his incarceration.
Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir is set to hear the petition, along with the objections from the court’s registrar office, on Monday. The filing comes after the chief minister, Sohail Afridi, was denied a meeting with Khan at Adiala jail, prompting the provincial government to turn to the courts.
The petition was submitted by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s advocate general, Shah Faisal, through the advocate Ali Bukhari on behalf of Afridi. It argued that a meeting with Khan, the PTI founder, was essential to discuss matters pertaining to provincial governance and the formation of a new cabinet.
But the registrar’s office objected to the maintainability of the plea, noting that the court had already adjudicated similar matters and had laid down a procedure for seeking permission to meet the PTI founder. The office questioned how a new petition could be filed without following the prescribed process.
The move followed the refusal of Afridi’s request to meet Khan at the jail in Rawalpindi, where the former prime minister has been held since his arrest in August 2023 on charges including corruption and inciting violence. In response, the KP government named the federal and Punjab interior secretaries, the inspector general of Punjab Police, and the superintendent of Adiala jail as respondents in the case.
According to the petition, the provincial government had earlier submitted formal requests to the federal interior ministry and the Punjab home department to allow the meeting, but no approval was granted. The plea maintained that consultation with the PTI founder was “legally and ethically necessary” for the chief minister in connection with key administrative and political decisions, including cabinet formation.
Faisal, who verified his biometrics at the Islamabad High Court under a special power of attorney, told reporters that Afridi had personally attempted to meet the PTI founder but was denied access despite having sought the prime minister’s permission. He added that the chief minister also intended to raise the matter before the Chief Justice of Pakistan on the administrative side and might approach the Supreme Court if necessary.
Ali Bukhari, a PTI leader and counsel in the case, said the ban on political meetings, imposed on November 26 last year, was contrary to the Pakistan Prisons Rules and violated visitation rights. He argued that even court directions regarding such rights were being disregarded, asserting that “meetings with inmates are a right, not a privilege.”
The petition requested the court to direct the jail authorities to immediately allow a meeting between the KP chief minister and the PTI founder, and to issue guidelines for future consultations as part of routine governance communication. The hearing on Monday could set a precedent for how provincial leaders aligned with Khan’s party navigate restrictions on access to him, as PTI continues to challenge the government’s handling of his detention. Khan, who was ousted as prime minister in a no-confidence vote in 2022, remains a central figure in Pakistan’s polarised politics, with his supporters alleging that the cases against him are politically motivated.
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