PNN: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request for an immediate meeting with jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former prime minister Imran Khan, and issued a notice to the government for a response by Tuesday.
A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi and Justice Shahid Bilal Hasan heard multiple cases concerning the PTI founder and his wife, Bushra Bibi.
“We cannot pass such an order without issuing notice,” said Chief Justice Afridi. “At present, the hurdle of the objection to the maintainability of the petition must be crossed,” he said to Khosa.
“Keep in mind that your cases are pending in other courts,” he said, adding, “In our view, this case has become infructuous.”
“It was an order dated August 24, 2023, against which the case had come,” said the CJP. “We cannot pass any order regarding a meeting without issuing notice. It has to be seen whether the case has become infructuous or can still be proceeded with.”
The court ordered the formation of a three-member bench to hear the appeals against Khan’s acquittal in the cipher case. An order was also issued to form a three-member bench on the appeals against Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s acquittal in the cipher case.
Further, Khan’s bail petition in the Al-Qadir Trust case was dismissed as infructuous. A two-member bench headed by Afridi heard the case.
Khosa requested that permission be granted for him to meet his client, to which Afridi responded, “We will also decide regarding the meeting tomorrow.”
“We cannot give any decision without issuing notice to the other party,” added the chief justice. The court adjourned the hearing of the case until tomorrow.
In the Al-Qadir Trust case, the application for cancellation of bail of the PTI founder was dismissed on the ground of being infructuous. Meanwhile, in the Toshakhana case, the applications for cancellation of Imran Khan’s bail, along with Bushra Bibi’s, were also dismissed for being infructuous.
In the May 9 Lahore incidents, an order was issued to form a three-member bench on the applications for the cancellation of bail of the PTI founder. The court adjourned the hearing of the applications for cancellation of bail in the cipher case and the May 9 incidents for two weeks.
The court also adjourned the PTI founder’s defamation case against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for 14 days and referred the matter to a three-member bench.
Justice Hasan inquired about the status of the case, to which the court was informed that the main case is pending in the Lahore High Court.
Speaking to the media outside the court, Imran’s lawyer Salman Safdar said the CJP heard all the cases of the PTI founder, calling it “an indication that it is the worst example in Pakistan.”
“In every case in which Imran Khan received relief, the government filed appeals against him in every case,” Safdar stated. “The cipher was Pakistan’s most expensive trial. You have also seen what its outcome was.”
“There is adjournment in all live cases,” he noted. “Whenever I have come to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, we have always received relief.”
“Our meetings are restricted. But our cases are not even being fixed for a hearing,” Safdar said.
“If justice is not being done at one judicial forum, then that forum can be bypassed and a higher forum can be approached,” the lawyer said. “We have never brought up medical grounds in court to date,” he added.
“This by no means implies that we should be kept unaware regarding the health of the PTI founder. We have not sought bail on the pretext of medical grounds,” Safdar noted.
He expressed hope that the meeting would take place tomorrow, saying, “My previous meeting also took place because of the chief justice.”
“Their meetings should be arranged. Winter has ended, and Ramazan is approaching. The bail applications of Bushra Bibi and the PTI founder should be fixed for a hearing. We have also requested a meeting with the Supreme Court.”
“Fifty cases are live. All those cases were before the Supreme Court in which the government had sought cancellation of bail.”
Concluding his remarks, Safdar said, “Do not treat the accused as the apple of the eye; keep everyone at an equal level.”