On Friday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) permitted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and lawyers to hold election meetings with party founder Imran Khan in Adiala jail in the run-up to polls scheduled for February 8.
Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb passed the order on a petition by Imran seeking permission for meetings with party leaders to formulate a strategy for the polls.
The plea by Imran also requested privacy and prayed that the same be conveyed to the prison’s superintendent.
PTI lawyers, Adiala Jail superintendent, and Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Awan appeared in court during the hearing. PTI’s counsel, Shoaib Shaheen, said as elections were merely some weeks away, the party needed to hold discussions on the allotment of 700 tickets. The AGP, however, raised objections regarding the maintainability of the plea. Justice Aurangzeb expressed displeasure at the argument presented by the AGP and said 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.”
The court then allowed PTI lawyers, recently-elected party Chairman Gohar Khan, and others to hold consultations with Imran in prison.
