Pakistan’s Imran Khan has written to the country’s Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, describing hardships during his more than two years in jail and urged the Supreme Court to promptly take up his pending petitions.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has written to the country’s Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, describing hardships during his more than two years in jail and urged the Supreme Court to promptly take up his pending petitions, Dawn reported. The letter, titled ‘Denial of Justice and Fundamental Rights — A Call to the Supreme Court’, was delivered on Thursday by Khan’s lawyer Latif Khosa, who met the Chief Justice for over an hour. After the meeting, Khosa told reporters that the Chief Justice had assured them of a “positive response” within 24 hours and asked for a proper application to be filed. Khosa, accompanied by Aleema Khan, Javed Hashmi and other PTI leaders, arrived at the Supreme Court to deliver the letter. Dawn reported that while others were briefly stopped by police at the entrance, they were later allowed inside and waited until Khosa concluded his meeting with the Chief Justice.
Following the meeting, Khosa said, “We will inform you about whatever happens in [the next] 24 hours.” He added that the Chief Justice had promised to ensure that the policy of presenting any arrested person within 24 hours would be implemented. Khosa said the CJP also sought written details of Khan’s complaints about jail conditions and invited suggestions for jail reforms.
Aleema Khan, Imran Khan’s sister, said they would return to the court on Friday to hear the outcome of the letter.
In his message to the Chief Justice, the PTI founder wrote that the “doors of justice remain closed to him and his wife” and complained of “continuous solitary confinement.” He said he faced nearly 300 “politically motivated cases” and sought immediate hearings of his pending petitions across courts.
The letter also requested medical treatment for Khan’s spouse Bushra Bibi and regular phone calls to his sons as per jail regulations. “Her health continues to deteriorate, yet her doctor is barred from examining her, let alone provide any treatment,” he wrote.
According to Dawn, Khan also alleged that thousands of PTI supporters remain in jail, with some, including his nephew, subjected to military trials in violation of constitutional rights. His letter referenced the “leaked” Commonwealth report on the February 8 elections, claiming the PTI’s mandate was “stolen overnight.”
The letter further accused the Islamabad High Court Chief Justice of deliberately refusing to fix hearings in the Al-Qadir Trust case and Toshakhana appeals. “The IHC top judge has allegedly fully abandoned impartiality and reduced the high court to a facilitator of an unjust and tyrannical campaign against him and those associated with him,” Dawn cited from the letter.
Khan urged the Chief Justice to direct Justice Sarfraz Dogar to schedule critical petitions, including those in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case. He also recalled the hanging of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979, noting the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling that due process was denied. “Justice in its truest sense must happen in real time, pyrrhic justice occurs 44 years later,” the letter read.
Concluding, Khan said, “I, as Patron-In-Chief of Pakistan’s largest political party; seek only what the Constitution guarantees: justice, dignity, and equality before law.”
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