‘Adjusted’ to prison life in Attock jail: Imran

PTI chief’s lawyer asks special court to conduct trial of cypher case at regular one with public access

ISLAMABAD:

PTI chairman and deposed premier Imran Khan has told his legal team that he had “adjusted” himself in the environment of the Attock District Jail.

It has been learnt that Imran in his interaction with his legal team, led by Salman Safdar, shared some interesting revelations.

The former premier is happy over the changing of his status after the suspension of his conviction in the Toshakhana case and now he has been given some additional facilities.

He was also happy to get a pencil and paper for writing first time.

The PTI chief has completed reading his Islamic books and now he has asked his legal team to send him writings on political history.

For the first time, Imran saw himself in the mirror during his imprisonment. He also shaved for the first time since his incarceration.

It has been learnt that the PTI chairman had been provided a TV set on which only the state-run PTV channel could be seen but he usually did not watch it.

Imran has also expressed his disappointment over the Supreme Court returning his petition -- challenging his ‘political victimisation’ and denial of ‘right to fair trial’ over rejected pre-arrest bail pleas -- by raising objections after five days of filing it.

He believes that the top court should have taken up his petition.

His lawyer, Salman Safdar, has requested the special court to conduct his client’s trial at a regular one with access given to the general public, enabling them to attend the proceedings to ensure fairness and dispensation of justice.

"The trial for a criminal offence would be conducted in an open court to which the public generally has access. The allegations in the case at hand do not fall within the purview of Section 14 excluding the public from the proceedings. It is indeed imperative that to ensure fairness in the proceedings, an open trial [should] be conducted to meet the ends of Justice," read the application.

It maintained that there was absolutely no element of evidence or statements in the FIR that were “prejudicial” to the safety of the State. Therefore, the exclusion of public from the proceedings and conducting of the trial in restrictions was wholly unjustified and uncalled for, it added.

“Hence, [the] provisions of Section 14 of the Act, 1923 are not attracted taking into account the nature of the allegations and the evidence available on the case file", the application continued.

The document read that the option of conducting a jail trial was reserved for high-risk and offenders who were dangerous, desperate as well as a threat to the society and community at large.

"Conducting trial of the petitioner [Imran] at Attock Jail, citing vague security concerns, is wholly out of place and unjustified under the circumstances. Conducting [a] jail trial is also violative of Section 352 of CrPC, 1898, and in the absence of any strong and convincing grounds there is absolutely no reason, logic or justification to conduct [it within the prison] premises," it continued.

The application further stated that the PTI chief had been appearing in more than 100 criminal cases on a daily basis while still facing serious threats.

The lawyer has also challenged the notification of the law ministry expressing “no objection” in conducting a jail trial.

He asked the court to set aside the notification and declare it as illegal, unlawful as well as against the principles of a fair trial and proceedings guaranteed under Article 10-A of the Constitution.

"On August 29, 2023, at around 1pm, the applicant’s [PTI chief] conviction and sentence in [the] Toshkhana reference was suspended by [the] orders of a learned divisional bench of the Islamabad High Court. Soon after the orders granting suspension of [the] sentence, an order of this court without date surfaced on [the] social media disclosing that the applicant would be produced before the special court by jail authorities on August 30, 2023,” the application read.

“Quite surprisingly, without citing any reasons, a notification of the ministry of law and justice on the intimation of [the] ministry of interior was also found circulating at around 9pm on August 29, 2023, stating that due to security threats and concerns, the trial and proceedings of the applicant [Imran] will take place at Attock Jail,” it continued.

“The timing highlighted in this paragraph alone exposes that on the instructions of the political adversaries without any cogent reason or security threat, the trial of the applicant has deliberately been taken outside the regular courts with mala fide intention,” the application concluded.