Pakistan court again orders jail authorities to allow lawyers access to Imran Khan

A Pakistani court on Tuesday ordered Adiala Jail authorities in Rawalpindi to allow former prime minister Imran Khan’s lawyers access, following reports that his legal team and most family members had been denied entry.

The order came during a hearing at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on a petition seeking a ban on Khan’s social media accounts, where his lawyer, Salman Akram Raja, told the court he was still being denied a meeting with his client despite multiple court directives.

Raja informed Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir that he personally visited Adiala Jail carrying a copy of the court’s written order authorizing the meeting, yet the jail administration refused him entry.

He said he had also sent the order to the local police station via WhatsApp, but the instructions were ignored.

Justice Tahir directed jail officials to ensure that Raja’s meeting with Khan takes place “today or by next Tuesday,” noting that his name was already included in the approved visitors list.

The judge also instructed the deputy attorney general and the state counsel to immediately contact jail authorities to facilitate the meeting.

Despite these directions, only one of Khan’s sisters, Dr. Uzma Khan, was allowed to meet him at Adiala Jail on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters outside Adiala Jail, she said that Imran Khan had made it clear that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) “will not hold talks with the Form-47 government or with the establishment.”

She said Khan reiterated that the recently formed Tehreek Tahafuz Ain-e-Pakistan alliance has the mandate to conduct any negotiations, and that “whatever decisions Mehmood Khan Achakzai or Allama Nasir Abbas make, PTI will follow them.”

Last month, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was also denied permission to meet Imran Khan at Adiala Jail on four separate occasions, despite explicit directions from a larger bench of the Islamabad High Court allowing such meetings.

Earlier in the day, Khan’s sister Aleema Khan attempted to reach Adiala Jail on foot from Rawalpindi’s Gorakhpur checkpoint but was stopped by police.

She staged a sit-in at the barricade, vowing not to leave until allowed to see her brother. Police and PTI supporters briefly clashed at the scene and traffic was disrupted as an ambulance became stuck in the gridlock.