The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday declined a request for an immediate meeting with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan. The request, filed by senior PTI leader Latif Khosa, sought permission for Khan’s jail visitation. Khan has been in custody since August 2023.

 

Earlier, the apex court had scheduled hearings for 13 petitions related to Khan and Bushra Bibi. The memorandum requesting visitation rights was forwarded to the relevant executive authorities for action under the law.

 

A two-member bench, including Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan, rejected the request, noting that an order could not be issued without first notifying the government. A notice to the government was issued, with a response expected on Tuesday.

 

During the hearing, CJP Afridi addressed Khosa, saying, “We have to overcome the hurdle of the maintainability of the application. Keep in mind that you have cases pending in other courts.” He added, “We believe that the case has become infructuous,” referring to an August 24, 2023, order “against which the case was filed.” The chief justice emphasized, “The court cannot issue any order regarding the meeting without issuing notice.”

 

The court also directed the formation of a three-member bench to hear appeals against Khan’s acquittal in the cipher case.

 

Speaking to reporters, Khan’s lawyer Salman Safdar described the hearing of 14 petitions at once as “a sign of political victimisation. Chief justice today heard all the petitioners against the PTI founder’s cases.” He added that the government had filed appeals “against every case in which the former premier had received relief.”

 

Referring to the cipher case, Safdar said, “It was the most high-stakes trial in Pakistan, and you saw how it ended. All the live cases are still pending.” He noted that the Supreme Court had “always granted us relief” and that he had sought a meeting with the chief justice. “In the past five months, we have only had a five-minute meeting,” he said. He further added that he was representing Khan in “more than 300 cases,” with 58 bails pending before Judge Afzal Majoka.

 

Safdar also said a letter had been written to the Islamabad High Court chief justice, but the court “is not ready to fix any case for hearing.” He said, “IHC has no standing at all. In such a case, the issue should be directed to the SC. IHC has been reduced to a palace for show.”

 

On Khan’s health, Safdar said, “The defence has not yet even brought up medical ground in the court. This does not mean that we should be kept in the dark about PTI founder’s health.”

 

According to a two-page memorandum filed last Friday, Khan has been held in Rawalpindi’s Central Jail since August 5, 2023, and his rights as a prisoner have been repeatedly violated. The PTI memorandum also cited reports of “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.”