Police officers walk past Pakistan’s Supreme Court building, in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 6, 2022. REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court has finally broken its silence and responded to the PTI’s memorandum in which the party urged the apex court to intervene to ensure that jailed PTI founder Imran Khan is able to regularly meet his family members, doctors and legal team.
“Concerns regarding access to the jailed PTI leader and submission of medical reports were once again conveyed to the relevant executive authorities for appropriate consideration in accordance with the law,” said a statement issued by the Supreme Court on Saturday.
The statement came a day after a delegation of opposition lawmakers submitted a memorandum to the Supreme Court clerk.
The SC statement revealed that to address such eventualities in future, the court also issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to involve the aggrieved litigants.
The SOPs emphasize ensuring accessibility, facilitation and provision of necessary services, including emergency medical coverage, without compromising institutional decorum, judicial functions or access rights of other litigants, it added.
However, the SOPs have not been made public yet. A senior Supreme Court official said they would be shared once formally notified. A sector of lawyers, considered close to the executive, has questioned the legal support of these SOPs.
They said if the government is not satisfied, the SOPs could be challenged before the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), where judges are appointed by the sitting prime minister.
A senior PTI leader said things would become clearer once the SOPs were revised. However, he maintained that it would be a success for PTI if the development led to something substantial.
Another section of lawyers said that given the current government’s alleged defiance of court orders in matters related to the PTI and its founder, there is little chance of these SOPs being effective in ensuring fair treatment.
As of May last year, the Supreme Court ruling granting civilians the right to appeal against military court verdicts has yet to be implemented.
Similarly, Islamabad High Court (IHC) court orders directing that meetings with Imran Khan in jail be facilitated have not been complied with.
The Supreme Court statement, issued in response to the PTI memorandum, noted that a group of PTI-affiliated parliamentarians, including the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Prime Minister, gathered in front of the Supreme Court on January 30, 2026, to express their concerns over access to their jailed leader.
“The Registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan contacted his representatives and assured them that their concerns would be conveyed to the Honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan. “Later that same day, his lawyer, Salman Akram Raja, was granted an audience with the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
“During the interaction, concerns were conveyed regarding access to the imprisoned PTI leader, including access to family members and medical professionals.
“As the issue raised did not directly relate to proceedings pending before the Supreme Court, the concerns were referred to the relevant executive authorities for consideration in accordance with the law, after which the meeting was peacefully dispersed.
“In the absence of a communicated response for a week, the delegation, including opposition leaders in the Senate and National Assembly, once again approached the Supreme Court on February 6, 2026, with a signed memorandum, which was formally received by the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.”
“Concerns regarding access to the imprisoned PTI leader and submission of medical reports were once again conveyed to the relevant executive authorities for proper consideration in accordance with the law,” the statement reiterated.
Since the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment, the PTI has found itself afloat in the high courts, struggling to secure substantial redress while key petitions linked to its jailed founder and senior leaders remain in limbo, deepening the party’s legal and political uncertainty.
The party, whose founder Imran Khan has been jailed for more than two years, continues to turn to the judiciary for hearings on its cases. However, progress has been slow and the PTI’s petitions have been stalled in multiple judicial forums.
In this backdrop, Imran Khan’s senior lawyer Salman Safdar on Friday wrote to IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar seeking early fixation of the petition seeking stay of sentences awarded to Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Explaining the basis for approaching the court, the letter said: “What has prompted me to approach Your Honor through this letter is the fact that the IHC has failed to address the legitimate concern and fundamental right of clients to have their applications for post-conviction bail (suspension of sentence) fixed and heard in criminal appeals arising out of NAB Reference No. 19/2023 (popularly known as the Al-Qadir University case Trust)”.
Advocate Asad Rahim Khan, commenting on this development, says that a rent and family court need not worry about SOPs. You should focus on digitizing files or inventorying light bulbs and cookies, he adds.
