The stringent solitary confinement of former Prime Minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan at Adiala Jail has hardened into an open constitutional and political confrontation, after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was denied access for the tenth time, according to a report by CNN News18.
Afridi, who travelled to Rawalpindi again with full official protocol, was stopped by Punjab Police at the Dahagal Naka checkpoint and told that the jail administration would not allow any visitor to meet the PTI founder under current security and legal restrictions, CNN News18 reported.
The latest refusal has allowed PTI to frame Khan’s near-solitary confinement not just as a prison regime but as a direct challenge to an elected provincial government’s ability to meet its party leader and consult on governance.
Tenth failed visit becomes a constitutional flashpoint
Since assuming office, Afridi has made ten attempts to meet Khan at Adiala Jail, each time returning without an audience, according to CNN News18.
Sources close to the KP Chief Minister expressed outrage, the report said, arguing that as the constitutional head of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and leader of a PTI government, Afridi has been 'unduly and repeatedly denied entry' in what the party sees as a breach of constitutional decorum.
Afridi has now publicly framed the stand-off as a matter of political principle, insisting that a sitting Chief Minister cannot be repeatedly stonewalled when seeking to meet the founder of his own party, who remains a central figure in provincial decision-making.
Punjab cites security and legal restrictions for ‘no visitor’ policy
Punjab authorities, for their part, have maintained a firm line.
They argue that heightened security and legal restrictions governing Khan’s confinement at Adiala Jail require a “no exceptions” policy until further official orders are issued, CNN News18 reported.
The jail administration is described as operating a zero-tolerance approach to external access, even for senior elected officials, effectively cutting Khan off from in-person contact beyond what the authorities deem strictly necessary.
The enforcement of this blanket bar means that the jail administration’s internal security orders, backed by the Punjab government, are currently trumping political protocol and inter-provincial optics.
PTI frames denial as proof of political persecution
PTI has seized on the repeated refusals to reinforce its narrative of political persecution.
Party leaders argue that Khan’s inability to physically consult with the leadership of the KP government undermines his lawful right to meet state leadership and participate, at least in counsel, in the affairs of a province governed by his party.
By keeping the issue in the public eye, PTI is also attempting to shift the debate from the technicalities of jail manuals and security orders to larger questions of due process, basic rights of under-trial or convicted political leaders, and respect for electoral mandates.
Afridi has vowed to continue his attempts, declaring that he will keep returning to Adiala until the PTI founder is allowed a meeting with the KP leadership, according to CNN News18.
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