by Advocate Khalid Yousaf Chaudry
This case against Imran Khan’s Twitter messages has been filed in the Islamabad High Court by Ghulam Murtaza Khan, a member of the Wajid Gillani cabinet’s executive, through the well-known PML-N lawyer leader, Barrister Zafarullah Khan, and the court has been requested to issue the following orders:
1. Declaration of Imran Khan’s tweets as illegal: That the “tweets” published from Imran Khan’s account, who is currently in jail, are illegal, unconstitutional, and in violation of Pakistan’s laws.
2. Order for investigation and restriction:
- The Cyber Crime Agency and Telecom Authority be directed to immediately identify, investigate, and stop those individuals/teams who are operating these tweets on behalf of Imran Khan.
- The PTA be directed to block/remove all such tweets uploaded trom the aforementioned account.
3. Compliance with jail rules: The jail superintendent be directed to strictly ensure compliance with jail rules and regulations, so that no prisoner can operate social media accounts illegally.
4. Direct restriction:
- Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi be directly directed to immediately cease this illegal and unconstitutional activity.
- Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf be directed to refrain from retweeting, sharing, or spreading Imran Khan’s tweets.
5. Other miscellaneous orders: The court issue any other order that it deems appropriate under the facts and circumstances of this case.
This petition is not merely a legal proceeding, but part of political revenge.
Already, Imran Khan is being deprived of his basic human rights, denied access to medical treatment, and restrictions imposed on meetings with family and lawyers – all of this is a blatant violation of Article 9 (security of person), Article 10-A (fair trial), and Article 14 (dignity of man) of the Constitution of Pakistan.
These very institutions openly violate court orders. Just a few days ago, the officials turned the orders of the three-member larger bench of the Islamabad High Court (Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s meeting with Imran Khan) into thin air on Adiala Road.
If the courts are truly independent, then they should hold hearings not only on the requests of one party, but also on all those complaints related to human rights violations against Imran Khan and his family.
Justice demands that tactics such as depriving Imran Khan of his basic constitutional rights and subjecting him to mental torture be brought to an end – all of this is a violation of Pakistan’s Constitution and international laws. It we truly want the rule of law, then there should be equal treatment for everyone, whether they are rulers or ordinary citizens.