Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Thursday returned without meeting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan after being stopped by police at the Dahgal checkpoint near Adiala Jail.

CM Afridi, who had obtained permission from the Islamabad High Court to meet the PTI founder, arrived in Rawalpindi with full official protocol but was not allowed to proceed to the prison.

The KP chief minister had said he wanted to finalise the formation of the provincial cabinet after meeting his party’s founder, who is incarcerated in Adiala Jail.

Police deployed heavy contingents at Dahgal, where the chief minister remained seated on the road for nearly an hour and a half in protest before leaving the area.

This was CM Afridi’s second attempt to meet the PTI founder at Adiala Jail.

The chief minister also staged a brief sit-in at the checkpoint before departing along with his security convoy.

He added that it was the responsibility of the high court judges to ensure implementation of their orders.

The chief minister also criticised the federal government for providing outdated vehicles to his province.

“The police and the families of our martyrs deserve better. Our government has provided maximum facilities to the force,” he said.

Referring to the recent Pakistan-Afghanistan ceasefire, CM Afridi said that relations between countries are always based on interests. Afghanistan is the gateway to Central Asia.

PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Junaid Akbar also reached Dahgal to express solidarity with the chief minister.

Junaid Akbar says courts have failed to deliver justice

Akbar said he would move a resolution in the provincial assembly declaring that the country’s courts have failed to deliver justice.

Speaking to the media near Adiala Jail, Akbar said if courts could not ensure justice, “they should be turned into universities so that someone can at least benefit.”

He said the PTI delegation, including KP CM Afridi, had arrived at Adiala Jail on court orders to meet the party founder, but police claimed they had not received any instructions allowing the meeting.

“If the state does not allow a sitting chief minister to meet his party leader, how can there be cooperation?” Akbar asked.

“We have always said that institutions should cooperate with us, and we will reciprocate.”

He warned that if courts continued to deny justice, the party should consider expressing no confidence in them.

Akbar added that if the chief minister was not allowed to meet the PTI founder, “the authority to form the provincial cabinet rests solely with him.”