PTI lawyer Salman Safdar on Tuesday met ex-premier Imran Khan at Adiala jail, saying that the party founder appeared fine healthwise.
The meeting, which lasted nearly three hours, came after the Supreme Court earlier in the day allowed Safdar to meet Imran.
Speaking to reporters outside the jail, Safdar said that Imran was fine and was looking healthy. However, he did not share further details about the meeting, saying that he had to submit a report to the court.
He said once the report was submitted to the court, he would be able to share the details.
Earlier in the day, the SC had allowed Safdar to meet Imran, declaring him amicus curiae. The development came a day after a request for an ‘urgent’ meeting – submitted by senior PTI leader Latif Khosa – was rejected by a two-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan.
The bench observed that such an order could not be passed without hearing the other side. Hence, a notice was then issued to the government for Tuesday.
The two-member bench resumed the hearing, during which CJP Afridi appointed Safdar as “friend of the court”, with the court directing him to visit Adiala jail today and submit a written report regarding Imran’s living conditions by tomorrow.
PTI counsel Latif Khosa and Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan also appeared before the court.
At the outset of the hearing, CJP Afridi barred Khosa from speaking, while AGP Awan said that he had “submitted a written response to the chamber in light of the order of August 24, 2023”.
In 2023, SC had directed the AGP to submit a report on Imran’s “living conditions in jail”.
He informed the court that the PTI founder was in Attock jail at the time of the order.
“We had submitted a written report to the chamber on August 28, 2023,” the AGP said, adding that a medical report from August 5 to August 18 was also included.
In response to this, CJP Afridi said, “After the August 24, 2023 order, there has not been any order on record which was satisfactory to the SC”.
In the court order, it was noted that the report submitted by the AGP pertained to the period when the former premier was imprisoned in the District jail, Attock, in 2023.
Hence, it maintained that the court “considered appropriate that a report regarding the present ‘living conditions of the petitioner in jail’ be submitted by the Superintendent, Central Prison, Rawalpindi.”
Subsequently, the court appointed Safdar as amicus curiae.
“Salman Safdar should go to Adiala as a friend of the court,” CJP Afridi said.
“We have full faith in Salman Safdar,” he further remarked. “He should be given full access to the PTI founder so he may be able to file a written response,” he added.