PTI lawyers question long trial delays as Pakistani party disowns Fawad Chaudhry

Lawyers for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have raised concerns over prolonged adjournments in jail trials of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, questioning whether political reasons were behind the delays.

Two key trials—Toshakhana 2.0 and the May 9 GHQ attack case—are being conducted inside Adiala Jail. The Toshakhana trial involves Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, while the GHQ attack case includes 118 accused. The cases, typically held twice a week, have now been adjourned until February 27 and 26, respectively.

A PTI lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Nukta that the adjournments followed PTI’s political committee distancing itself from former party leader Fawad Chaudhry. The lawyer claimed that Khan had planned to announce his disassociation from Chaudhry again, prompting the court to extend the delay.

“The Khan would have announced it again today; that’s why the trial was adjourned,” the lawyer said.

However, a special prosecutor in the case told Nukta that the judges had agreed to hold hearings twice a week to avoid disrupting private legal practices. Meanwhile, the prosecutor in the Toshakhana trial cited Judge Shahrukh Arjumand’s leave as the reason for the adjournment, adding that it was the court’s prerogative to delay proceedings.

Concerns over Khan’s treatment

PTI lawyer Faisal Fareed Chaudhry criticized the long adjournments and the restrictions on lawyers and family visits to Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.

Speaking outside Adiala Jail, he said: “The abrupt adjournments without any reason are concerning. This also happened on October 3 last year when Khan was kept in solitary confinement for over three weeks, with no electricity in his room.”

Chaudhry said the party was deeply worried about Khan’s safety.

“We don’t know the conditions he is being kept in. There are many unanswered questions about the jail authorities’ conduct. The judiciary has become a dead horse.”

Advocate Hadi Ali Chatha, representing PTI leader Dr. Shireen Mazari, said the prosecution was responsible for delays in the May 9 trial.

“There are 118 accused in this case, and the trial is being rushed. Our acquittal applications have not even been heard yet,” he said.

Another PTI lawyer suggested that Khan’s recent letter to Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir and the party’s social media campaigns against state institutions might have influenced the extended adjournments.

PTI disowns Fawad Chaudhry

A day earlier, PTI’s political committee condemned Fawad Chaudhry’s alleged attack on PTI lawyer Shoaib Shaheen, calling it a “criminal act.” The committee accused Chaudhry of using violence and abusive language in political disputes, stating that he was no longer authorized to represent PTI.

“Raising a hand against Shoaib Shaheen is a slap in the face of PTI,” the statement read.

The committee called Chaudhry a “coward” and a “political traitor” who had betrayed PTI’s struggle for democracy and rule of law.

In response, Fawad Chaudhry dismissed the committee’s statement, saying it had remained silent on the treatment of Imran Khan in jail.

“They don’t care about political prisoners, but they pass resolutions over an unimportant IB clerk,” Chaudhry wrote on social media.