Web Desk, October 20, 2025
The objections raised by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Registrar’s office regarding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s request to meet PTI founder Imran Khan in jail have been resolved.
Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir of the IHC heard the matter along with the registrar’s objections and subsequently issued notices to the Secretary Interior, Secretary Punjab Home Department, IG Police, and Superintendent Adiala Jail for October 23.
Advocate Ali Bukhari, representing Sohail Afridi, stated that the registrar’s office had raised multiple objections to the KP Chief Minister’s petition seeking a jail meeting with PTI founder Imran Khan. One key objection was that a prior court decision already exists on the matter.
The counsel further explained that another objection questioned how Afridi could file the request without a provincial cabinet decision. He countered that this does not hold, as the cabinet has not yet been formed.
Thereafter, the court overruled the registrar’s office objections and proceeded to issue notices to the respondents.
Afridi, who recently assumed office as KP Chief Minister, argues that he is constitutionally and morally obligated to consult Imran Khan on critical issues, including cabinet formation, inter-provincial trade restrictions (such as wheat transportation imposed by Punjab), law and order, economic challenges, and federal-provincial relations. He emphasized that such guidance is essential in the public interest for the 45 million residents of KP, who elected PTI to power.
The petition was filed after Afridi’s formal requests to the federal Interior Ministry and Punjab Home Department on October 15 went unanswered, and he was denied access during a recent visit to Adiala Jail. Afridi has also written to Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, seeking supervised meetings for ongoing consultations.
