Imran disallowed exercise machine in jail

RAWALPINDI: The Adiala Jail administration has refused to allow a ‘mini-gym’ for former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in his cell, sources said.

Imran’s counsel submitted a request to the court seeking permission for bringing a multipurpose machine to Imran’s cell for physical exercise. However, the jail administration refused to grant permission, saying no such order had been received from the court.

The PTI leaders reacted to the jail administration’s decision and staged a protest followed by a press talk.

Meanwhile, a group of lawyers met Imran in the jail. They discussed different legal issues and got from the party chairman.

Suleman Akram Raja, Umair Niazi, Shoaib Shaheen and Intizar Panjotha were among the lawyers who met Imran on Thursday, the sources concluded.

Our correspondent Awais Yousafzai adds: A two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday issued a show-cause notice to the Adiala Jail superintendent for not appearing in the court over an intra-court appeal against the non-provision of facilities to PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

The bench comprised Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir. It also allowed uninterrupted access of PTI lawyers to the party chairman. As the proceedings began, the bench expressed displeasure over the delayed arrival of Deputy Attorney General Arshad Mehmood Kayani and Imran’s counsel Azmat Bashir Tarar.

Justice Miangul remarked that everybody in the town was busy celebrating the arrival of PMLN leader Nawaz Sharif and asked as to who would come to assist the court. Imran’s counsel Sher Afzal Marwat informed the court that they were allowed to meet their client only when he had to appear in the court. He complained that the meetings took place in a cage-like room and requested that they be allowed to meet their client under a schedule that they had made.

The court allowed the PTI lawyers to meet the PTI chairman without any hindrance.

Justice Miangul remarked that his father was also put behind bars in 1977 and he would visit the jail to meet him.

Issuing a show-cause notice to the jail superintendent for failing to appear, the court asked why contempt-of-court proceedings should not be initiated against him.