ISLAMABAD: The Adiala Jail administration on Wednesday arranged a meeting between incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi after the acting Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Justice Sarfaraz Dogar, summoned the jail superintendent in a contempt petition.

Faisal Chaudhry, a lawyer representing PTI founder Imran Khan, said the jail administration arranged the meeting between Mr Khan and Bushra Bibi — both incarcerated in Adiala jail — in compliance with the order issued by the IHC. The IHC earlier directed the jail authorities to arrange a meeting of Mr Khan with his spouse.

On Jan 25, Superintendent Jail Ghafoor Anjum had given an undertaking before the court to facilitate a meeting of the detained couple. When the Islamabad High Court resumed the hearing on Wednesday, Mr Chaudhry argued that the superintendent did not honour the commitment made with the court.

Court summons Adiala superintendent on Feb 27

During the hearing on the contempt petition, Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfaraz Dogar expressed displeasure over the non-implementation of the court’s directive. Mr Chaudhry argued that the jail authorities had not complied with the court’s ruling regarding the visitation rights of Bushra Bibi.

He stated that the superintendent had provided a statement in court affirming that arrangements would be made for Bushra Bibi to meet her husband. However, according to the petitioner, this assurance had not been honoured, prompting the legal team to file a contempt petition against the jail official.

In response, the court directed the state counsel to explain why its order was not enforced and instructed the law officer to ensure immediate compliance with its directive. Furthermore, the court summoned the superintendent of the jail in his personal capacity to clarify the matter. The hearing has been adjourned until February 27.

After almost a year-long imprisonment, Ms Bibi had been freed from jail on bail, but in January this year, she was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case.

Last week, the PTI lawyer said the former ruling party would approach the IHC on Monday against curbs on its parliamentary leaders to meet party founder Imran Khan in jail. Faisal Chaudhry, who has access to Imran Khan, had said that the leaders of the parliamentary party had not been allowed to meet the former premier for almost five months. He said Imran usually shared the names of six leaders for a meeting, but for the last five months, the jail administration had not allowed them to meet him.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2025