• Lawyer claims parliamentary leaders not allowed to meet party founder for months
• Incarcerated leader ‘takes exception’ to judge’s military courts remarks, hints at nationwide protests after Ramazan
• Party plans to expel lawmakers who skipped 26th amendment passage

ISLAMABAD: The PTI will approach the Islamabad High Court today (Monday) against curbs on its parliamentary leaders to meet party founder Imran Khan in Adiala jail.

Faisal Chaudhry, the PTI lawyer who has access to Mr Khan, told Dawn that the leaders of the parliamentary party have not been allowed to meet Imran Khan for almost five months.

“According to the standard operating procedures (SOP), Mr Khan meets his family members and lawyers on Tuesday and the party leaders on Thursday.

He also shares the names of six leaders for the meeting, but for the last five months, the jail administration has not allowed them to meet him,“ claimed the lawyer. He said, “We have been left with no option but to file a petition in the IHC. A case will be filed on Monday (today).”

When recalled that the government recently arranged multiple meetings between Imran Khan and the negotiation committee besides Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur who meets him frequently, Faisal Chaudhry said that the negotiating committee meeting was arranged by the government.

About CM Gandapur, he said his name was not provided by the party founder, adding that Mr Khan should be allowed to meet six parliamentary leaders, whose names were provided by him, every week.

Imran takes exception to judge’s remarks

In a post shared on ‘X’, the former premier criticised Supreme Court Justice Musarrat Hilali over her comments in which she said that the PTI had also supported the military courts and they were established.

The judges should refrain from making any decisions or remarks before hearing both sides, he said, pointing out that a commission to probe the May 9 incidents had not been formed and even the CCTV footage had disappeared.

He announced the PTI will formulate a plan in collaboration with all opposition parties to launch a nationwide protest movement after Ramazan. He said he had also instructed his negotiation committee to boost efforts for the “restoration of the Constitution and democracy”.

He alleged that all the institutions of the country were under the control of invisible forces. He alleged that even the Adiala jail was being controlled by a ‘colonel’ who did not follow the law and jail regulations.

According to the PTI sources, the former ruling party on Sunday approached JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and gave assurances that the PTI would support him if he launched a campaign for the ouster of the government.

Expulsion of more leaders

Reports in electronic media on Sunday claimed that Imran Khan had decided to expel the lawmakers who skipped the parliament session in which the 26th Constitutional Amendment was passed.

The names which were being discussed included senators Zarqa Suhrawardy and Faisal Saleem; MNAs Aslam Ghumman, Riaz Fatyana, Zain Qureshi, Miqdad Ali Khan, and Aurangzeb Khichi. A PTI leader, on the condition of anonymity, said that although Imran Khan had initially ordered the expulsion of the leaders, the decision might be withdrawn.

“During the next meeting, it will be discussed with Khan sahab, including the situation in which they skipped the voting process. Moreover, he will also be told that there will be no benefit in expelling those legislators, as they will remain lawmakers,” the party leader said.

He said that the party had already made a blunder by expelling firebrand MNA Sher Afzal Marwat.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2025