- IHC acting CJ Justice Sarfaz Dogar led the hearing of the big bench.
- The court directed to undertake visitors against media talks.
- Lawyers cite security threats to limit meetings up to single day.
Islamabad: In a breath of relief for the passive Prime Minister, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday visited the days for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan for days, to meet him every Tuesday and Thursday.
Only those individuals whose names are provided by Salman Akram Raja, the coordinator of the founder of PTI, will be allowed to meet him.
IHC Acting Chief Justice Justice Sarfaz Dogar heard the joint arguments on the above issue as the latest development in the legal story related to the rights of the former Prime Minister’s meeting.
The three -member bench, including Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan, was formed last week by Justice Dogar, who filed various petitions about Khan’s rights to meet the meeting in response to a petition filed by Jail Superintendent Abdul Gafoor Anjam.
Prior to today, Adiala Jail Superintendent Anjum had limited the earlier premiere meetings to Tuesday, using his discretionary powers.
The issue of access to the disorganized PTI founder has been a point of dispute with various people in recent times, which took the court to court to seek permission to meet him.
In this regard, IHC had earlier demanded Khan’s virtual presence through video links and later ordered the authorities to produce before the court during the hearing of a petition filed by PTI’s Mashal Yousafzai.
However, a cricketer-consignor was not produced before the court with the Advocate General (AG) of Islamabad, in which it was caused by safety concerns.
IHC’s Justice Sardar Isaz Ishaq Khan further extended the issue after the case was removed and the SUO Motu contempt proceedings were further enhanced after being shifted to another bench.
During the hearing today, Jail Superintendent’s lawyer Naud Malik informed the court that by December 2024, the jail meetings were held under the same standard operating procedures (SOPs), but the status of the mine changed as a prisoner in January 2025 as a prisoner and it was also with security threats. According to the jail manual, meetings with the PTI founder were being arranged on Tuesday, he said.
The lawyer further stated that after January, the position of former-headed minister turned from an under-trial prisoner to a guilty prisoner.
IHC’s acting CJ Justice Dogar commented that everyone presents requests to hold meetings inside the jail.
On this, the Jail Superintendent’s lawyer said that these meetings were being used for political purposes.
The judge then questioned the need for media talks after the jail meetings, saying that visitors should leave after their meeting.
The judge said, “We should receive a venture from visitors to ensure that they do not hold media talks after meetings.”
Meanwhile, Justice Tahir said that SOPs were fixed for meetings on Tuesday and Thursday in the appeal. The lawyer of the jail superintendent said that both meetings were scheduled on Tuesday instead of holding meetings in two different days due to security threats.
Advocate Malik said that according to the rules of the jail, the superintendents of Adiala Jail have authority. He said that in such circumstances, it is the responsibility of the Superintendent to decide on meetings according to the rules.
During the hearing, PTI leader Raja requested the court to restore the schedule of two weekly meetings.
However, the advocate of the jail superintendent argued that it was difficult to manage meetings in two different days, so all the meetings were being arranged on the same day.
IHC’s acting CJ said that more than 100 petitions were filed about prison meetings, and around 98 were resolved. He further said that they want the matter to be decided by a big bench once and for all.
