ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday

 ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday rejected the request for an immediate meeting with PTI founder Imran Khan.

The SC earlier Fix for hearing 13 petitions related to Imran and Bushra Bibi, and said PTI’s memorandum seeking jail visitation rights for the party founder has been forwarded to the relevant executive authorities for consideration under the law.

Imran has been in jail since August 2023, convicted in a string of cases he says were politically driven following his ouster in a 2022 no-confidence vote.

The request for the meeting, submitted by senior PTI leader Latif Khosa, was rejected by the two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Yayha Afridi and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan.

The apex court observed that such an order could not be passed without issuing notice to the government. A notice was then issued to the government for tomorrow (Tuesday).

Addressing Khosa during the hearing, CJP Afridi said that “we have to overcome the hurdle of the maintainability of the application”. “Keep in mind that you have cases pending in other courts,” he remarked.

“We believe that the case has become infructuous,” he said, recalling an August 24, 2023, order “against which the case was filed”.

The court “can not issue any order regarding the meeting without issuing notice,” CJP Afridi added.

The SC also ordered the formation of a three-member bench to hear appeals against the PTI founder’s acquittal in the cipher case.