Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Friday approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking permission to meet PTI founder Imran Khan in Adiala Jail.
On Thursday, Afridi, who was elected provincial chief minister on Monday, was denied a meeting with Imran during a prison visit. The PTI founder, jailed since August 2023, is serving a sentence in Adiala jail in a £190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the May 9 protests.
Afridi said he waited outside the prison about two hours yesterday before leaving. Speaking to reporters, he said he would announce his cabinet after consulting Imran and seeking his opinion. He claimed that he had officially notified the Punjab government and the federal government of his plan to visit Adiala, but received no response, adding that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif did not respond to his subsequent request, made during a phone call, to facilitate a meeting with Imran.
Court petition by Per Afridi seen by dawn.comAs Chief Minister, he was constitutionally responsible for the government of the province and was “under both legal and moral obligation” to consult Imran for “guidance and instructions on urgent and sensitive provincial matters” relating to the government and the formation of the provincial cabinet.
The petition was filed against the Federal Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Secretary, Punjab Home Department, Inspector General of Punjab Prisons and Superintendent of Adiala Central Prison, Rawalpindi.
Filed through lawyer Syed Ali Bukhari, the petition claimed that Afridi had approached the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Punjab Home Department on October 15, 2025, requesting a meeting with Imran through an official letter that was “duly received” by both offices.
Apart from approaching the IHC, CM Afridi also wrote a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, requesting arranging a meeting with Imran.
According to the letter, seen by dawn.comIt was “necessary in public interest that a regular meeting” of the KP CM be allowed under the supervision of the competent authorities at Adiala Central Prison, Rawalpindi.
According to the letter, Afridi has been elected CM of KP on the PTI ticket, a province with a population of 45 million, for governance and ensuring/safeguarding fundamental rights and issues related to law and order situation, formation of provincial cabinet, critical economic challenges faced by the people of the province and important political issues.
“There is a pressing need to seek the direction of [Imran] about [these] matters and others, including relations on certain important matters with the federation and other provinces,” the letter said.
“Searching for direction is extremely essential, even currently Punjab province has stopped inter-provincial trade i.e. wheat etc.,” the letter said.
Separately, in a post on
“Until I find myself [Imran Khan] and receive political directives, participating in a meeting of this type would be an insult to the mandate of the people of the province,” he stated.
“I hope that the federal government will resolve this matter as soon as possible and issue instructions to the relevant authorities so that arrangements can be made for my regular meetings with my leader and the mandate representative of the people of KP.”
Pre-election controversy
Afridi was elected the new chief executive of the KP on Monday during an assembly session marred by the opposition strike and amid prevailing uncertainty over the resignation of outgoing CM Ali Amin Gandapur.
Declaring Afridi’s election constitutional, Peshawar High Court Chief Justice SM Attique Shah had on Tuesday directed KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi to take oath by 4 pm the next day or else the Provincial Assembly Speaker would perform the ceremony on the same day under Article 255(2) of the Constitution.
