The founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, has asked the Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO) to register a case against Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and eight police officials, alleging that he is being denied facilities at Adiala jail.
The request, submitted by the jailed former prime minister’s lawyer, Tabish Farooq, to CPO Khalid Hamdani, seeks the registration of a case against Maryam Nawaz, the Adiala Jail superintendent, ASP Zainab, SHO Aizaz, the Adiala outpost in-charge, and others, totaling eight individuals.
The petition, sent to the CPO’s office via courier service, claims that Imran Khan is not being provided with standard facilities in prison. It alleges that on the instructions of the Punjab chief minister, even his basic rights as a prisoner are being violated. The petition claims there is no light in his cell and that his family is being denied visitation rights. It further asserts that he is “constantly kept in darkness” and that all these measures are being taken on the orders of the Punjab chief minister.
The request notes that Adiala jail falls under the Punjab government’s jurisdiction and references a past statement allegedly made by Maryam Nawaz that the former PTI chairman is “a seditionist.” It also accuses ASP Zainab, SHO Aizaz, and the outpost in-charge of harassing Imran’s family in collusion and of violating a high court order by obstructing visits from his sisters. Consequently, the petition demands that a case be registered against all eight named individuals.
In a separate development, a special Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi accepted an application for an exemption from appearance for Aleema Khanum, the former chairman’s sister. She is among the accused in a case related to a violent protest by the PTI on November 26. The court adjourned the hearing until September 2 without any further action. During Monday’s proceedings, the accused’s lawyer filed a request for a one-day exemption from appearance, which the court granted. The case against Aleema Khanum and others was registered by Sadiqabad Police Station, charging them with violent protest, arson, and resistance against police.
‘Extravagant trip’
Meanwhile, the PTI criticized Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz for her ‘extravagant royal’ foreign trip to Japan and for plunging Punjab into a massive debt trap. The party demanded a full disclosure of public funds allegedly squandered on what it called a “personal publicity tour.”
PTI Information Secretary Waqas Akram stated on Monday that according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Punjab government borrowed a staggering Rs405 billion in just the first 38 days of the current fiscal year 2025-26 (July 1 to August 8).
Waqas demanded that state institutions take immediate notice, launch a thorough investigation into this corruption, and hold the rulers accountable. Highlighting the plight of farmers, he said the regime deliberately reduced wheat prices during the harvesting season to punish the farming community for not voting for them. Waqas added that the same crop was later purchased cheaply by mafias, and now the rulers have increased prices to benefit middlemen and profiteers, devastating the poor farmers.
When asked by this correspondent, the jail authorities maintained that “No such precedent in the past is available on record of such an application by any inmate of the prison.” They reminded that “The same allegations have been falsified and nullified by different honorable benches of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and other learned courts in more than 150 applications and writ petitions. All the petitions have been decided in favor of the government/jail administration, terming them as baseless and fabricated.”
