Pak court bars Imran Khan, wife from speaking against state institutions, officials

Islamabad: An accountability court in Islamabad barred former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, from issuing statements against state institutions and officials, The Express Tribune reported.

Judge Basir Javed Rana ordered the PTI founder and his spouse from speaking against state institutions in the courtroom during the hearing of a petition seeking a fair trial.

The court also ordered the media to avoid publishing such provocative political statements targeting state institutions and their officials.

According to the order, the PTI chief made provocative political statements against senior officials of state institutions, including the army, the judiciary, and the army chief, as per The Express Tribune. "Such statements disrupt judicial decorum and also obstruct judicial functions such as the dispensation of justice," the order added.

In its order, the court also instructed the prosecution, the accused, and their defence counsels to not make political or inflammatory statements that may disrupt the decorum of the court.

Khan, who was PM from 2018-2022, remains jailed in multiple cases, including a 14-year jail sentence for him and his wife for the illegal sale of state gifts. Khan was first imprisoned after being handed a three-year prison sentence in August 2023 by the Election Commission for not declaring assets earned from selling gifts worth more than PKR 140 million rupees (USD 501,000) in state possession and received during his premiership.

In January, Khan and wife Bushra Bibi were handed 14-year jail terms following a separate investigation by the country's top anti-graft body into the same charges involving state gifts.

(ANI)