On Friday, the Islamabad High Court allowed PTI leaders and lawyers to hold election meetings with party founder Imran Khan who is incarcerated at Adaila Jail in the run-up to polls scheduled for 8th February.
The order was passed by Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb on a petition filed by Imran seeking permission to hold meetings with party members including Asad Qaiser, Junaid Akbar Khan, senators Aurangzeb Khan and Dost Mohammad Khan, and Ishtiaq Meherban, among others, to formulate a strategy for the polls.
The plea also requested the court to instruct the superintendent of Adaila Jail to ensure privacy for Imran Khan during his consultations with his legal team and meeting with party leaders.
During the hearing today, PTI lawyers, Adaila Jail superintendent, and Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan appeared in the Islamabad High Court.
PTI’s counsel, Shoaib Shaheen, said that elections were merely some weeks away, and the party needed to hold discussions on the allotment of 700 tickets. While the AGP raised objections regarding the maintainability of the plea.
The elected PTI Chairman Gohar Khan earlier today said the decision to allot tickets would still be taken by Imran Khan. Meanwhile, Barrister Ali Zafar had proclaimed that, when it came to the allotment of tickets PTI workers in jail would be prioritized.
Justice Aurangzeb expressed displeasure at the argument presented by the AGP and said that he was representing the interim government and should be impartial.
Asking if the caretakers wanted to “derail the polls”, Justice Aurangzeb said a “terrible system was being run under the interim government where even consultations on elections are not allowed”.
Afterward, the court allowed PTI lawyers, including the elected party Chairman Gohar Khan, to hold consultations with Imran Khan in jail. The court also passed an order that the meeting between Gohar Khan and the ex-prime minister will be held under the supervision of the jail superintendent.
Justice Aurangzeb said, “Permission for consultations on polls is a fundamental right,” stressing that the caretaker government should be “neutral” during elections.
PTI lawyer Shaheen said the caretakers “are chair takers and everyone can see on whose orders they are functioning” by talking to the media reporters.
“They all have a problem with the fact that Imran Khan and the nation are on one page. Today, the public is standing with Imran Khan,” he asserted, adding that the ECP and elite political parties were seeing their defeat.
