ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC), Wednesday, issued notice to the Adiala Jail superintendent in a petition seeking contempt of court proceedings for not allowing the PTI founder to meet with his relatives, legal team, and party leaders.
A single bench of Justice Saman Raffat Imtiaz heard the contempt petition filed by AIlama Nasir Abbas, Chairman Majlis Wahdat al-Muslimeen (MWM) against restriction on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s meetings despite court’s orders.
The petitioner’s counsel said that the IHC granted permission for the meetings with the PTI founder in jail on March 8 but the superintendent Adiala Jail did not follow the court’s order and committed contempt of court.
The petitioner requested the court to take strict action against the jail superintendent and allow the PTI founder meetings with relatives and counsel.
The court issued notice to the superintendent and sought a report from him in this matter. Later, the bench deferred the hearing of the case till March 15 for further proceedings.
The MWM chairman filed the petition and cited superintendent Adiala jail as respondent. He stated in the petition that despite possessing a court’s order, they were denied access to Imran Khan when they visited Adiala Jail. He further describes the details of their wait from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm on March 11, during which the meeting failed to materialize despite presenting a certified copy of the court’s orders.
The petitioner requested the IHC bench to take action against the jail superintendent for allegedly disregarding the court’s directives and direct him to hold meeting with Imran Khan.
Separately, another single bench of IHC comprising Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir summoned superintendent Adiala jail to appear in person before the court today.
The IHC bench issued the directions in a petition moved by the PTI through Sher Afzal Marwat challenging a notification of the Punjab government imposing a two-week ban on all public visits, meetings, and interviews at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail citing “security” threats.
In his petition, the petitioner being aggrieved of order, dated 12.03.2024, through the instant petition sought direction to the respondent- superintendent Adiala Jail to allow him to meet with his legal attorneys, political aides, and family members.
The counsel contended that under the garb of order, dated 12.03.2024, issued by the Home Department of the Government of the Punjab, the respondent is refusing to allow the persons allowed by this Court to meet Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi, who is presently incarcerated at the Central Prison, Rawalpindi.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024