IHC Restores PTI Founder’s Right to Biweekly Jail Meetings

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has reinstated the PTI founder’s right to meet visitors twice a week, ruling that meetings will be allowed on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, only individuals nominated by his coordinator, Salman Akram Raja, will be permitted. The court has also imposed a strict ban on any media interactions following these meetings.

A larger bench, led by Acting Chief Justice Sarfaraz Dogar and comprising Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Muhammad Azam, issued the verdict while hearing petitions related to jail meetings.

During the hearing, PTI founder’s lawyer, Zaheer Abbas, argued that despite following the prescribed SOPs, jail authorities had not facilitated the scheduled meetings, including one on March 20. Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir emphasized that the previous court ruling had already allowed meetings twice a week, but the jail authorities had merged them into a single day due to security concerns.

Representing the prison authorities, lawyer Naveed Malik informed the court that PTI founder’s status in jail had changed following his conviction in January. He stressed that the Adiala Jail Superintendent holds the authority to regulate meetings under jail rules. He also expressed concerns that these meetings were being misused for political messaging.

In response, the court reiterated that jail meetings should not be exploited for political purposes and suggested obtaining a written undertaking from visitors to refrain from political discussions post-meeting. The court ruled that the issue of PTI founder’s meetings with his children should be addressed by the trial court.

With this ruling, the PTI founder regains limited access to visitors, under strict regulations, while his legal team continues to challenge various restrictions imposed on him in jail.