SC says PTI memorandum on Imran’s visitation rights conveyed to ‘relevant executive authorities’

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A general view of the Supreme Court in Islamabad on April 4, 2022. — Reuters/File
A general view of the Supreme Court in Islamabad on April 4, 2022. — Reuters/File

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Saturday said PTI’s memorandum — requesting immediate jail visitation rights for party founder Imran Khan with his family, doctors, lawyers and friends — had been conveyed to the “relevant executive authorities” for appropriate consideration in accordance with law.

On Friday, the party members and parliamentarians, led by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, had submitted the memorandum to the SC registrar. The party had regretted in the memorandum to Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi that Imran’s access to his family and lawyers was again denied on Tuesday, the day fixed by the court for meetings with his relatives and counsels.

In a press release issued on Saturday, the SC said that on January 30, the KP chief minister and PTI lawmakers gathered in front of the SC to convey their concerns about access to Imran.

“The registrar engaged with their representatives and assured that the concerns would be brought into the notice of the chief justice,” it said.

It went on to say that later that day, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja conveyed these concerns to the chief justice, but they were referred to the relevant authorities as the matter “did not directly pertain to proceedings pending before the SC”.

“In [the] absence of any communicated response for a week, the delegation, including opposition leaders in [the] Senate and the National Assembly, once again approached the Supreme Court on February 6, 2026, with a signed memorandum, which was formally received by the registrar,” the press release said.

It stated that concerns about access to the imprisoned PTI founder and the provision of his medical reports were once again conveyed to the relevant executive authorities.

“The SC, in order to address such eventualities in future, also issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for engaging aggrieved litigants,” it said.

“The SOPs emphasise ensuring accessibility, facilitation, and provision of necessary amenities, including emergency medical cover, without compromising institutional decorum, judicial functions, or the rights of access of other litigants,” the press release said.

According to the two-page memorandum, the former premier has been incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Central Jail since Aug 5, 2023. During this period, his rights as a prisoner and a human being have been consistently violated, it alleged.

He had been denied visitation by family, lawyers and friends for long periods of time at the whim and will of the powers that be, it alleged, adding this forced isolation constituted torture under all cannons of international law and our own jurisprudence.

It regretted that orders of the superior courts, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in particular, had been disregarded with impunity. It added that the IHC, despite repeated petitions seeking action for contempt of court, declined to act in order to enforce its orders.

The chief justice was informed that the appeal filed before the SC against the IHC inaction was returned with a direction that the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) should be moved instead. That, too, was done months ago but no hearing was fixed, the memorandum regretted.

Several other petitions filed before the SC against the denial of fundamental rights to Imran and his incarcerated wife Bushra Bibi were also transferred to the FCC, yet no hearing was granted, it said.

Filed by opposition members of the Senate and the National Assembly, petitions for jail visitation rights of Imran were found ‘unfit’ for fixation, the memorandum said, adding that repeated applications and representations before the IHC and its chief justice for the fixation of an appeal and application for suspension of sentence, too, remained exercises in futility. Unwarranted convictions were awarded to the ex-premier and his wife over a year ago, it said, describing the failure to hear and decide the applications for suspension of sentences as “oppressive”.

The memorandum also highlighted the reports about Imran being subjected to some secretive medical procedure at a hospital in Islamabad and keeping his relatives in the dark in violation of jail rules.

13 pleas concerning Imran, Bushra fixed for hearing

Meanwhile, the SC fixed for hearing 13 different petitions concerning Imran and Bushra Bibi for hearing on Monday (February 9).

According to the supplementary cause list issued, a two-judge bench comprising CJP Afridi and Shahid Bilal Hassan will take up the petitions at 9am on Monday.

Among the petitions fixed for hearing are the Punjab government’s appeal against the granting of bail to the PTI founder and his wife.

Further, Imran’s appeal against the case registered against him under the Official Secrets Act and the National Accountability Bureau case against the ex-premier in relation to the Al-Qadir University Trust was also fixed for hearing.

The court will also take up a petition filed against the acquittal of Imran and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case.

Further, the Punjab government’s appeal against bail granted to Imran in May 9 cases was also fixed for hearing.

Meanwhile, Imran’s appeal against a Rs10 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was also set to be heard.

Imran has been in jail since August 2023, convicted in a string of cases he says were politically driven following his ouster in a 2022 no-confidence vote.

His first conviction was in the Toshakhana case and centred on accusations that he unlawfully sold gifts received in office. Later verdicts added lengthy jail terms, including 10 years in the cipher case and 14 years in the Al Qadir Trust corruption case.

Most recently, in December 2025, both him and his wife were handed a total of 17 years of imprisonment in another Toshakhana case.

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