Islamabad [Pakistan], April 14 : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has outlined a new policy for meetings with former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is currently incarcerated in a prison, The Express Tribune reported.
In a statement issued following a political committee meeting, PTI said that a five-member committee would be set up to manage and approve the list of people allowed to meet Khan.
The list will be finalised each Tuesday and Thursday and provided to prison authorities through one of three designated focal persons: Salman Akram Raja, Gohar Ali Khan or Intizar Panjhotha, The Express Tribune reported. The PTI warned that no person outside the approved list would be allowed to meet the PTI founder. Any member who violates this rule will be considered to be breaching the party discipline.
If prison officials do not allow any approved visitors, the remaining committee members will protest by meeting Khan collectively. In such cases, the Imran Khan-founded party announced it would file a contempt petition against the officials, The Express Tribune reported. The PTI further said that government officials from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be exempt from this rule and they can visit Khan at any time without approval of the committee.
The PTI's decision comes after a rift emerged within the party leadership over access to party founder Imran Khan, after his sisters were barred from visiting him at Adiala Jail on Tuesday while a group of lawyers was allowed to proceed with a scheduled meeting, Dawn reported.
According to party sources, the jail administration stopped Aleema Khan and other family members from meeting the former prime minister on April 8. However, five lawyers including Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Barrister Ali Zafar were allowed to meet Imran Khan in jail.
This move drew strong criticism from PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, who was also not allowed to meet Khan. The PTI had submitted a list of six lawyers for the meeting in line with the Islamabad High Court's orders permitting two visits per week, but Raja's name was removed from the final list approved by jail staff.
The Islamabad High Court had directed that Khan be allowed meetings every Tuesday and Thursday and assigned coordination responsibility to Salman Akram Raja. After being denied access, Raja stated on Tuesday night that those not on the approved list should not meet Khan and that "as long as Imran Khan's sisters were not being allowed to meet him, other leaders should also refrain from meeting the former prime minister."
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