Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Monday filed a petition in the Islamabad special court seeking contempt of court proceedings against the Attock jail superintendent for allegedly denying him permission to speak to his sons over the phone.
Khan (70) is in judicial custody till September 13 in the cipher case for allegedly disclosing the state secrets. He has been incarcerated in the Attock prison since his arrest on August 5th after a trial convicted him in the Toshakhana corruption case.
Previously, last month, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief was granted permission by the special court, formed to hear cases registered under the Official Secrets Act, to speak to his sons, Qasim & Sulaiman.
However, Khan in the petition sought contempt of court proceedings against the Attock jail superintendent for violating the court’s order.
In the petition, Khan claimed that the jail officials denied him permission to have telephonic conversations with his sons on the pretext that he was held under the Secrets Act.
Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain issued notice to Superintendent Attock Jail Arif Shehzad and sought a report on the implementation of the court’s order on September 15.
The purported cipher contained an account of a meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South & Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan last year.
Previously, Khan has come under increased scrutiny following the publication of a purported copy of the secret cable by the US media outlet the Intercept, with many in the previous government led by Shehbaz Sharif pointing fingers at the PTI chief for being the source of the leak.
Khan, through his lawyers filed a petition before Judge Zulqarnain seeking permission to talk on the telephone to his sons Qasim and Sulaiman living in London with their mother.
The judge directed the Attock Jail officials to make arrangements for the father to speak to the sons over the phone.
