ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday removed the registrar’s objections to a petition filed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi seeking permission to meet imprisoned PTI founder Imran Khan, and issued notices to the Adiala jail superintendent and other respondents for October 23.
Afridi filed the petition on October 17, two days after taking oath as chief minister, following his failed attempt to meet Imran Khan in Adiala jail. The PTI founder has been incarcerated since September 2023.
Afridi, who has said he would announce his provincial cabinet after consulting Khan, had approached the IHC after his request to meet the party chief was denied.
The court, presided over by Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, took up the matter and overruled the registrar’s objections regarding the petition’s maintainability.
Afridi’s counsel, Advocate Ali Bukhari, argued that the registrar’s objection — that the plea was filed without the provincial cabinet’s approval — was baseless since the cabinet had yet to be constituted. The court accepted the argument, removing the objection and issuing notices to the interior secretary, Punjab home department secretary, Punjab inspector general of prisons, and Adiala jail superintendent.
Afridi’s petition stated that the KP government had already submitted formal requests to the federal interior ministry and Punjab home department to allow a meeting with Imran Khan, but no approval was granted.
The plea contended that consultation with the PTI founder was “legally and ethically necessary” for Afridi to make key political and administrative decisions, including cabinet formation.
Earlier, the IHC registrar’s office had objected that the court had already ruled on similar petitions and established a procedure for requesting meetings with the PTI founder, questioning why Afridi’s petition was filed without following that process.
