ISLAMABAD: Incarcerated leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday once again approached Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, seeking early fixation of their pending appeals against convictions in cases stemming from the May 9, 2023 unrest.
The appeal was conveyed through a formal letter addressed to both the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC) by jailed PTI leaders Dr Yasmin Rashid, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, Senator Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Omer Sarfraz Cheema through their legal team.
PTI Insaf Lawyers Forum Convenor Intizaar Panjutha confirmed that the letter had been dispatched to the two chief justices, reiterating the leaders’ demand for urgent judicial consideration of their appeals.
He said this was not the first time the matter had been raised. According to Panjutha, Dr Yasmin Rashid had initially written to the Chief Justice of Pakistan on December 14, 2024, highlighting delays in the hearing of her cases.
A second letter followed on May 2, 2025, titled “Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied”, in which she alleged that proceedings were not being taken up effectively due to political interference. In that correspondence, she also pointed out that her election petition had remained pending for an extended period.
A third letter was submitted on September 9, 2025, by Dr Yasmin Rashid along with Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, Senator Ijaz Chaudhry and Omer Sarfraz Cheema through their counsel Rana Mudassar Umar. That letter, addressed to both the CJP and the LHC chief justice, raised concerns over what the petitioners described as a “grave miscarriage of justice and mala fide political victimisation through the abuse of anti-terrorism proceedings”.
Panjutha said the latest letter specifically seeks early fixation of the appeals before the Lahore High Court, particularly in cases relating to PTI leaders and party workers who remain behind bars.
A large number of PTI leaders and workers were booked under multiple charges following the violent protests that erupted across the country on May 9, 2023, after the arrest of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan from the Islamabad High Court premises in a corruption case. Several of those cases were later transferred to anti-terrorism courts, resulting in convictions and prolonged incarceration of party leaders.
The renewed plea underscores growing pressure from the PTI’s legal wing for expedited judicial relief, amid continued claims of political victimisation and prolonged delays in the adjudication of appeals linked to the May 9 cases.
