• National interest demands govt revisit its approach towards PTI, its founder, party leaders say
• Officials rule out possibility, say only spouses are ever allowed such a facility
• IHC seeks report from Adiala administration on plea seeking ex-PM’s transfer to hospital

LAHORE: Shah Mahmood Qureshi and four other senior PTI leaders imprisoned at Kot Lakhpat Jail have appealed to the government to allow the party vice chairman to meet founder Imran Khan at Adiala jail.

The five PTI leaders, Mr Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry, Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed and Omar Sarfraz Cheema, who are imprisoned at Kot Lakhpat jail stressed that the national interest demands that the government revisit its approach towards PTI and Imran Khan.

Sticking to their stance that the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) and PTI cannot abdicate their role as a responsible opposition, the leaders warned that a prolonged regional conflict could have disastrous consequences for Pakistan’s economic security.

In a statement conveyed through their counsel on Thursday, the PTI leaders said that India’s aerial exercises along Pakistan’s border and Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Israel should not be taken lightly.

They asserted that terrorism and TTP activities against Pakistan could not be tolerated. They also urged the government to engage with the people of Afghanistan and avoid alienating them. “National interest requires national reconciliation,” the leaders insisted.

When contacted, a senior home department officer told Dawn there was no clear provision that would allow for one prisoner to be taken to a different prison to meet another inmate. “This will be a new thing and [must] be looked into deeper, if the court orders such an ‘extraordinary’ meeting,” the officer said.

Since no formal request has been sent to the home department, this proposal is unlikely to even be discussed in official circles. The jail manual and rules allow only lawyers and family members to meet an inmate, the official added.

On the issue of bringing down political temperatures, the official said it was up to the government to decide, and it would obviously move in line with the jail manual and rules.

Another former senior official familiar with the working of prisons, told Dawn that such a facility, i.e. taking a prisoner from one jail to meet another prisoner in a separate penitentiary, had only ever been extended to married couples who were incarcerated separately.

In that situation, a prisoner is expected to initiate an application for the granting of a conjugal visit.

Plea seeking Imran’s transfer

Meanwhile, the IHC issued a notice to the District Election Commissioner Islamabad and sought a report from the Adiala jail administration on a petition seeking the transfer of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan to a hospital for medical treatment.

A division bench comprising Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro issued the directions while hearing a miscellaneous application filed in the pending appeals related to the Toshakhana case involving a Bulgari jewellery set.

In a written order, the court directed the superintendent of Adiala jail to submit a report and also asked how much of the sentence the PTI founder had already served in the Toshakhana criminal case. Notices were also issued to the additional attorney general and the advocate general on two office objections raised by the registrar’s office.

The bench observed that three objections raised by the registrar’s office on the application had been dismissed, while two were upheld. The registrar’s office was directed to number the miscellaneous application and tag it with the main appeals. The office was further instructed to prepare the paper book of the appeals before the next hearing scheduled for March 10.

The IHC also took up a petition filed by Uzma Khan, sister of the PTI founder, seeking his transfer to Shifa International Hospital for medical treatment.

The petition requested the court to allow access to family members, lawyers and doctors during medical examination and treatment, and to ensure timely updates regarding the PTI founder’s health condition.

It further requested that doctors of his choice — Dr Khurram Mirza, Dr Asim Yousaf, Dr Faisal Sultan and Dr Samina Niazi — be included in the medical board, and that complete medical records, including blood tests, eye examinations and diagnostic reports for the past three months, be provided.

Malik Asad in Islamabad and Mohammad Asghar in Rawalpindi also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2026