The Supreme Court on Friday banned carrying of mobile phones inside the court following leakage of a picture of PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The apex court staff also barred lawyers and clerks from carrying the phones inside the court.

The journalists had already been banned from taking their mobile phone cameras inside the court.

The development comes after Imran Khan had appeared via video link in the Supreme Court during hearing of NAB amendments case but did not get a chance to speak as a petitioner in the case,

The PTI founder remained present on the video link for about two hours and 27 minutes.

Somehow his picture leaked and was uploaded on social media.

Earlier, Imran Khan was not shown live on the Supreme Court’s YouTube channel as the apex court resumed the hearing of intra-court appeals filed against its verdict declaring the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) amendments null and void.

Sources told 24News TV channel that instructions had been issued to the court staff regarding not showing court proceedings live on its YouTube channel. The last hearing was live-streamed on the YouTube though.

On the other hand, in view of the likely appearance of Imran Khan in the court via a video link, the number of subscribers of the SC’s YouTube channel has jumped from 11,000 to 50,000 within a few hours on Thursday morning.

On Thursday, Imran Khan appeared in the apex court via video link dressed in blue. The PTI also shared a picture of the purported video call, with a laptop screen showing him seated in a room wearing a light-blue shirt, and seemingly uninterested as he rested his face on his hand.

Later, the mystery as to how the image of Imran Khan went viral was solved when PTI leader Shaukat Basra said he was the one who had took the picture.

In a chat with journalists, Basra, who hails from Bahawalnagar, said he had taken the former prime minister’s picture and later uploaded it on social media. “I am not afraid of anybody. If I had any fear, I would not have come to the court today,” Basra told reporters.