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ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday ordered the administration of Central Prison Rawalpindi to produce jailed former prime minister Imran Khan by 3 p.m. to facilitate a meeting with his lawyers, as his wife Bushra Bibi was released after securing bail a day earlier.
The development follows Khan’s legal team moving the court, complaining that prison officials were preventing them and the ex-premier’s family from meeting him. Khan has been imprisoned for over a year, facing various charges, including corruption and sedition.
Currently, he is incarcerated in the state repository case, involving the possession of a jewelry set comprising a ring, bracelet, necklace and earrings gifted to his wife by a foreign dignitary. The couple allegedly undervalued the set and retained it at a lower price.
Bibi was released from jail after spending 265 days in the same case after the IHC granted her bail on Wednesday.
“Bring Imran Khan to Islamabad High Court at 3 PM to arrange his meeting with his lawyers,” Justice Ijaz Ishaq Khan remarked during the hearing. “I know you won’t implement my orders, but let me issue directions.”
The judge’s remark came amid an ongoing tussle between the executive and the judiciary, with the latter accusing the country’s powerful military and intelligence agencies of exerting pressure to secure favorable verdicts in political cases, particularly those involving Khan.
The military and intelligence agencies have denied these allegations, maintaining that they do not interfere in political matters.
Khan has not physically appeared in a court since August last year, with all hearings being held in the high-security Rawalpindi prison due to security concerns.
For the last two weeks, the Punjab government has banned all meetings with Khan and other prisoners in the jail, citing security reasons.
“A contempt of court petition was filed by the legal team after the jail administration, following Punjab government orders, banned meetings with Imran Khan, defying clear instructions from the court of Justice Ijaz Ishaq to arrange a meeting via video link if otherwise not possible,” Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said in a statement.
Khan’s legal team has struggled to secure his release, arguing that all charges against him are fabricated to keep him out of politics.
The PTI also confirmed that a bail bond for his wife was submitted in the court earlier in the day, leading to her release in the afternoon.