Interim Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti has said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairperson Imran Khan is the “darling of the court” and has been granted extraordinary privileges during his time in jail.

Bugti, in an interview with Independent Urdu, emphasised that the facilities extended to Imran surpassed those provided to any former premier to date, leaving the average citizen unable to fathom their extent.

“The facilities provided to him are more than those provided to an ordinary prisoner or a prime minister behind bars as he is, after all, a laadla of the courts.

Regarding the cypher case, Bugti expressed willingness to abide by the court’s order regarding Imran’s appearance in court on November 28, acknowledging the importance of due legal process.

Read: Imran summoned in court on Nov 27 in £190 million settlement case

Addressing broader concerns, the interim interior minister asserted significant progress in resolving the issue of missing persons, stating that 78 per cent of such cases have been successfully solved. He also discredited the list of missing persons compiled by Akhtar Mengal, declaring it inaccurate.

Previously, Bugti advocated for the missing person case not to be made a “propaganda tool” and use it for election campaigning. He urged debate in parliament on the missing persons’ issue, saying that it was interconnected with incidents of ‘self-disappearances’.

When asked about Nawaz Sharif, the interior minister voiced his opinion that the cases against Nawaz were baseless and contested the PML-N supremo’s disqualification.

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Bugti clarified that no preferential treatment is being accorded to PML-N, emphasising a level playing field for all political parties. Refraining from commenting on Bilawal’s statement, he assured that the Ministry of Interior is committed to providing the election commission with all necessary assistance for conducting upcoming elections.