ISLAMABAD:
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Wednesday attempted to speak at the rostrum of Chief Justice of Pakistan Sarfraz Dogar’s court, but the chief justice left for his chamber without hearing him.
Speaking to the media outside the court, Afridi said that since a meeting with Dogar had not been possible through other channels, he had attempted to address him in open court. He approached the rostrum and greeted the chief justice, but his greeting was not returned. After waiting for an hour and fifteen minutes, the chief minister said he was not given so much as a response.
Afridi said the purpose of the visit was to demonstrate that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) does not engage in protest or anarchic politics. “We want to state that after exhausting all options, we stage peaceful protests, which is our right,” he said.
He added that a request had also been submitted for a medical examination of PTI founder and former premier Imran Khan by doctors from Shaukat Khanum Hospital, but that application was not entertained.
Senior lawyer and PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, also speaking to the media, said efforts were ongoing to secure access for Imran’s doctors and family. He said the court had ordered two weekly meetings – one day for lawyers and one for family – and that when he appeared in court with Afridi, the jail superintendent was directed to arrange the meeting.
Despite going on the same day, however, the meeting was never arranged. A contempt of court petition was subsequently filed, but was not taken up. When older contempt petitions were eventually heard, Raja said, they were disposed of.
With the high court taking no action over the violation of its own order, Raja said the matter was taken to the Supreme Court. Petitions filed for Imran’s medical examination could also not be heard. “The Islamabad High Court is a closed door for us,” he said. “Here we can file petitions, but they are not heard.”
Raja pointed to a separate case related to the social media platform X, fixed for hearing against Imran, in which the court had directed that Raja be allowed to meet the ex-prime minister. “I said that without a meeting, how can a reply be submitted on behalf of the PTI founder?” he said. He was not allowed to meet Imran, yet the court proceeded regardless, directing that a reply be submitted and arguments made without one.
Raja said every party is entitled to present its position, and that Afridi, as a representative of 45 million people, had decided to stand in court and ask for exactly that. After the cases concluded, the chief minister attempted to speak, but the chief justice stood up and left, the secretary general noted.
“We will also approach the Supreme Court from here. The case of Imran Khan will have to be fought by the nation and the people,” said Raja.
Meanwhile, a man was deprived of his mobile phone in the high court corridor after he recorded a video of K-P Chief Minister Afridi.
Police confiscated the mobile phone from a person accompanying the chief minister for filming his departure and deleted the video, according to details. After the video was deleted, the mobile phone was returned to the individual concerned.
