IHC issues notice to NAB on Imran’s plea

NAB court prohibited Imran from making political statements in Adiala jail

ISLAMABAD:

Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued notice to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) over a plea against the court order, prohibiting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan from making political statements at the Adiala jail court in the presence of media.

Chief Justice IHC Aamir Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri heard a plea against the NAB court’s decision of restricting Imran Khan from making political statements in the presence of journalists at the Adiala jail court.

Making remarks during the proceedings, the CJ, IHC said the US and the UK do not have a kind of freedom of expression which is available in Pakistan, adding the media should report the court proceedings fairly and must report what they are listening to.

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Salman Akram Raja appeared on behalf of the plaintiff and said that the jail officials had erected many obstacles in the court room that were removed on the order of the trail court but the court also refrained the PTI founder to make political statements. The access to information is the basic right of people, said Raja, adding, journalists can report whatever is happening in the court.

The chief justice observed that the things had become advance, adding the lawyers explain the court’s proceedings outside of the court. He inquired if a lawyer can make statements on the merit of the sub-judice case. At which, Salman Akram Raja replied that the lawyers could not discuss the merits of the sub-judice matter in public, adding the court proceedings are reported all over the world.