Islamabad. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is serving a jail sentence, has complained to the country’s Supreme Court about the mistreatment meted out to him in jail, citing the interim bail granted to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Khan told the Supreme Court that the apex court in India has granted interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal to campaign ahead of India’s general elections. The former prime minister also said that he is facing repression under the undeclared ‘martial law’ in Pakistan.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman moved the apex court on Thursday before a five-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa in a case related to amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).
The bench also comprised Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi. Justice Minallah remarked that it was unfortunate that Khan was in jail as he was the head of a large party with millions of followers.
Imran Khan also complained that he was convicted within five days to keep him away from the general elections held on February 8. Khan also expressed disappointment over the Supreme Court’s rejection of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s petition, which requested live streaming of the case.
The founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf asked Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa. “You [फैसले में] It was written that I did political point scoring during the last hearing. I don’t understand, what political scoring did I resort to,” to this Chief Justice Isa said that a judge does not need to give any explanation to anyone on the decision. The top judge said, “You can file a review petition.
Khan also asked the court to compare the facilities provided to him in jail with those provided to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Justice Mandokhel said in a lighter vein, “Sharif is not in jail right now, do you want us to send him to jail?” The chief justice remarked that the court would arrange for a surprise inspection by a judicial officer.
