PTI to move court against Adiala authorities

Rejects rumors about formation of a forward bloc in the former ruling party

PESHAWAR:

The PTI will move a contempt of court petition against Adiala Jail administration for violating an order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), allowing incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan to meet visitors twice a week.

PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram made this announcement on Saturday in a press conference in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's provincial capital.

"Courts should be shut down if they could not implement their orders," the PTI leader added.

Last week, on March 24, a three-member larger bench of the IHC restored Imran's biweekly meeting with visitors at Adiala Jail but also imposed a ban on the visitors to talk with the media after such meetings.

The bench, led by Acting Chief Justice Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and including Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan, noted that only those persons could meet the PTI founder whose names were provided by Imran's coordinator Salman Akram Raja.

However, on March 27, the administration of Rawalpindi's famous jail where Imran Khan has been detained since September 2023, did not allow PTI leaders to meet the party founder.

According to Sheikh Waqas Akram, the PTI is going to move a contempt petition against the jail administration after Eidul Fitr. "Court orders are being ignored. This impunity must end," he added.

Akram said the PTI would not go solo but would rather stage protests after Eidul Fitr under the aegis of a brewing opposition parties' alliance—Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ain-e-Pakistan.

The PTI leader also rejected all rumors about formation of a forward bloc in the former ruling party.

Talking with reference to the inclusion of Maulana Fazlur Rehman's JUI-F in the alliance, Akram said there has been a lot of acrimony between the PTI and the JUI-F in the past.

"However, it is a big step that the two parties now sit together."

Apparently referring to the JUI-F's Friday statement against K-P Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who belongs to the PTI, Akram said such exchange of statements was not a big deal.

The JUI-F on Friday accused Gandapur of trying to sabotage attempts to form a grand opposition alliance against the ruling coalition, stating that despite PTI founder Imran Khan's clear instructions, Gandapur had been issuing statements against the JUI-F chief.

"Gandapur has been continually badmouthing JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. This criticism will only benefit the government and undemocratic force," JUI-F spokesperson Aslam Ghauri said in a statement.

Sheikh Waqas Akram said many PTI workers have been imprisoned for the past two years. "Our mandate was stolen; we are not allowed to engage in political activities and businesses of a number of PTI leaders and workers have been shut down," he claimed.

He complained that a former chief justice of Pakistan, Qazi Faez Isa, took away their election symbol. He questioned why the Senate elections in the K-P have not been held yet. "The nation will never forgive you for this," he added.