ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has left Rawalpindi's Adiala jail after prison authorities did not grant permission for a meeting with incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, despite the Islamabad High Court's (IHC) order to allow such meetings.
Earlier today, the high court directed the superintendent of Adiala jail to allow meetings of the PTI leaders with the party's jailed founder.
The directives came on the PTI's leaders' petitions, including CM Afridi, who have sought a meeting with Imran to discuss "policy matters" and cabinet formation of the newly elected provincial government.
Hearing a bunch of pleas filed by several PTI leaders, an IHC bench, headed by Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar, directed the Adiala jail superintendent to implement the court's March 24 decision regarding jail meetings with the PTI founder.
The three-member bench also comprised Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Azam Khan.
Soon after the decision, CM Afridi arrived at Adiala Jail to meet Imran, but his convoy was stopped by police at Dahgal checkpoint near the prison.
He staged a short sit-in outside Adiala jail, demanding the implementation of the high court's directives to permit his meeting with the incarcerated party founder.
Speaking to journalists at the check post, Afridi said that he wanted to meet his leader, adding that he would still wait for the PTI founder's instructions even if he is not allowed to meet him.
"My leader has always favoured dialogue […] the people of KP have voted for the PTI founder's ideology and policy," said the KP chief executive.
"It is my right to protect the public mandate and receive policy guidelines from the Quaid [party founder]," he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that in March this year, the same three-member bench had reinstated twice-weekly meetings with the jailed PTI founder Imran Khan, allowing them to take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays in accordance with the prescribed standard operating procedures (SOPs).
However, the IHC had strictly prohibited any media talk after the meetings. It ruled that no individual meeting the PTI founding chairman will be allowed to speak to the media afterwards.
Imran has been behind bars since August 2023 after he was sentenced in Toshakhana case-I — one of the dozens cases registered against the former premier since his ouster from power in April 2022.
He faces multiple cases, ranging from corruption to terrorism.