Islamabad:
A special court in Pakistan on Wednesday granted permission to jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan to make a phone call to his two sons, according to a media report.
In a one-page written order, Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain directed the Superintendent of Adiala Prison, where Khan is currently lodged, to ensure that Khan speaks to his sons, Sulaiman Khan and Qasim Khan, over the phone, Geo reported News. .
The 71-year-old Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman, who has been in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi in the code case, was arrested in August after a case was filed against him for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act by public making a secret diplomatic secret. cable (figure) sent by the country’s embassy in Washington in March last year.
The court said last week that Khan and former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi would be charged at the next hearing on October 17, which would mark the official start of the trial. However, on Tuesday, the Special Court had postponed the indictment of Khan and his close aide Qureshi until October 23.
The deposed prime minister had filed a plea in the special court on September 11, seeking contempt of court against the Attock Jail Superintendent for refusing to allow him to speak to his sons despite earlier court orders in this regard, according to GeoTV.
“(Khan) was previously allowed by the special court, set up to hear cases registered under the Official Secrets Act, to speak to his sons. However, the PTI chief in the petition sought contempt of court proceedings against the Attock jail inspector for violating court order,” the media report said.
Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 and jailed on August 5 this year after an Islamabad court sentenced him to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief was lodged in Attock District Jail to serve his jail term. Later, his sentence was suspended by the Islamabad High Court, but subsequently he was arrested in the encryption case and remained on remand in Attock Jail.
Geo News gave the chronology of events and described how Khan was in judicial custody at Attock Jail at the time of filing the plea. He was held there until September 13 in the figures case since his arrest on August 5 after a trial convicted him in the Toshakhana case.
‘Khan was earlier allowed by the special court, set up to hear cases registered under the Official Secrets Act, to speak to his sons. order,” the report said.
Attock prison authorities, in their response to the contempt of court application, argued that prison rules do not allow suspects charged under the Official Secrets Act to speak on telephone, citing the Prisoners Act, 1978.
The SOPs regarding telephone calls have been submitted to the court. Khan’s lawyer cited the decision of the Federal Shariat Court in this regard and submitted a copy of the relevant judgment of the Federal Shariat Court to the judge.
The judge then allowed the PTI chairman to speak to his sons through a telephone conversation, Geo News added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)