Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Sarfaraz Dogar has refused to meet Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Sohail Afridi.
According to media reports, the provincial executive of KP arrived at the IHC seeking a meeting with the top judge after staging an overnight sit-in outside Adiala Jail.
However, the meeting did not take place and Afridi, accompanied by jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, and a group of lawyers, left the office of the CJ’s secretary.
“We were not heard. We received a message from the chief justice that he cannot meet us,” CM Afridi said while expressing his disappointment in conversation with media persons.
He announced that his party had decided to disrupt both the National Assembly and Senate sessions today, and vowed to gather again outside the high court and Adiala Jail next Tuesday.
KP Advocate General also confirmed to a private media outlet that the top Islamabad judge had declined to meet the CM, adding that Justice Dogar was currently not meeting anyone.
He clarified that the CJ had also not met the advocate general or any lawyer.
Earlier, Afridi ended the overnight sit-in after being denied a meeting with the incarcerated party founder for the eighth time a day earlier.
The sit-in began on Thursday afternoon and also included members of the KP cabinet.
Visuals reposted by the PTI on X showed CM Afridi, along with other party workers, offering Fajr prayers outside the jail on Friday morning. Other images showed Afridi and others huddled around a fire. The sit-in was also livestreamed by the party on its social media channels.
Speaking on the livestream on Friday morning, the KP CM announced that the sit-in was being wrapped up, adding that he would now approach the IHC.
“We will now go to the IHC to meet the chief justice,” he said, adding that they would request him that three of his judges had ordered the meeting. Afridi was referring to a three-member IHC bench in October telling the Adiala administration to allow a meeting between him and jailed Imran.
“Previous orders were very clear that Khan Sahib would be allowed to meet his family and lawyers on Tuesdays and party leadership on Thursdays,” he said, adding that courts should ensure the enforcement of their orders, otherwise, it was “the law of the jungle”.
CM Afridi also expressed frustration, stating that he had exhausted all “constitutional and legal” avenues available to meet his party’s founder.
“What other avenue is left for me to explore now?” he asked and lamented that despite court orders, he, other party leaders and Imran’s family were not being allowed to meet him.
He also recalled the treatment meted out to Imran’s sisters outside Adiala last week when police briefly detained them for a sit-in against the lack of permission to see their brother.