Court bars Imran, spouse from targeting state institutions

ISLAMABAD: An Accountability Court Thursday barred former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi from making statements in the courtroom against the state institutions and authorities.

The court issued a comprehensive order on a petition filed by Imran Khan for a fair trial.

Judge Nasir Javed Rana ordered Imran and his spouse to avoid speaking against the state institutions in the courtroom.

According to the order, the PTI chief made provocative political statements against the senior officials of state institutions, including the army, judiciary and the army chief.

The order added that such statements disrupt judicial decorum and also obstruct judicial functions such as the dispensation of justice. The order further stated that during the jail trial of PTI founder, the media will limit its reporting on the court proceedings and not report statements of the accused.

The court also instructed the prosecution, the accused and their defence counsel not to make political or inflammatory statements which may disrupt the decorum of the court.

The media was also ordered to refrain from publishing political and inflammatory narratives targeting the state institutions and officials and was asked to adhere to the Pemra guidelines that prohibit discussing ongoing cases.

Earlier, the former prime minister asserted that premeditated rigging had marred the by-polls in Punjab, accusing the police of involvement in rigging. “Democracy hinges on the supremacy of law and the conduct of free and fair elections, yet what we witnessed was jungle law. The interference of police in the Punjab by-elections is deeply concerning,” he remarked during a media interaction at the Adiala jail.

Imran highlighted that by-polls were also conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) was ruling, affirming that no instances of rigging transpired in the province. “There exists no semblance of democracy in the nation presently. The rigging was a preemptive move, driven by fear of the events that unfolded on February 8. The postponement of general elections from October to February was a deliberate tactic to suppress the PTI. Even our petition in the Supreme Court remained unheard as it awaited the demise of PTI,” he elaborated.

Imran lamented that many tactics were deployed ahead of the general elections to hurt the reputation of PTI, resulting in the conversion of majority vote into a minority.