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The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday granted PTI leaders and lawyers permission to visit ex-premier Imran Khan — who is incarcerated at Adiala Jail — and hold election meetings in the run-up to the February 8 polls.
The order was passed by Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb on a petition filed by Imran seeking permission to hold meetings with party members Asad Qaiser, Junaid Akbar Khan, senators Aurangzeb Khan and Dost Mohammad Khan, and Ishtiaq Meherban, among others, to strategise ahead of the elections.
The plea also requested the court to instruct the superintendent of Adiala Jail to ensure privacy for Imran during his consultations with his legal team.
With the poll schedule released, election-related activities have begun inside the camps of major political parties. The election programme is fully under way with the deadline for filing nomination papers over on Sunday. The returning officers will examine the nomination papers from Dec 25 to Dec 30.
Earlier, PTI Chairman Gohar Khan had said the decision to allot tickets would still be taken by Imran. Meanwhile, Barrister Ali Zafar had asserted that PTI workers in jail would be prioritised when it came to the allotment of tickets.
Today, Attorney-General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, PTI lawyers and the Adiala Jail superintendent appeared in the IHC.
At the outset, PTI counsel Shoaib Shaheen said the party needed to hold discussions for the allotment of 700 tickets while the AGP raised objections to the maintainability of the plea.
Justice Aurangzeb expressed displeasure at Awan’s arguments and asked: “Is the additional note from the Supreme Court insufficient for you? Do you want me to write a note against you as well?”
He passed these remarks in reference to Justice Athar Minallah’s additional note in the cipher case. In his note, the SC judge had highlighted that it was the Election Commission of Pakistan and the government’s duty to ensure that the public was facilitated in expressing its will through a “genuine election”, adding that it was also bound to ensure that there was no perception of oppression or repression against one political party while others were treated favourably.
Mentioning these remarks, Justice Aurangzeb said the AGP and advocate general were representing the caretaker government and should therefore be impartial.
“A terrible system is being run under the interim government where even consultation on elections is not allowed,” he remarked, asking if the caretakers wanted to “derail the polls”.
Subsequently, the court allowed PTI lawyers, including Chairman Gohar Khan, to hold consultations with Imran in jail. The court also passed orders for a meeting between Gohar and the ex-premier to be held under the supervision of the jail superintendent.
“Permission for consultations on polls is a fundamental right,” Justice Aurangzeb said, stressing that the caretaker government should be “neutral” during elections.
“Opposing meetings between PTI chairman and Imran raises questions on the neutrality of the interim set-up,” the judge added and disposed of the petition.
Talking to reporters, PTI lawyer Shaheen said the caretakers “are actually chair takers and everyone can see on whose orders they are functioning”.
“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.
“What is the capacity or credibility left of this puppet caretaker government?” the lawyer asked. He also criticised the police maltreatment of PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi outside Adiala Jail earlier this week.
“We have made a mockery of ourselves in the entire world,” Shaheen added.
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