IK v The Secretary of State and the Home Department

Facts

The appellant, IK, is a national of Pakistan who claims that his father is a prominent member of the Awami National Party, having held various roles in the party's Dubai branch, and was attacked in Pakistan in the run up to the 2018 election because of his political activities. The appellant claims that he himself became involved with the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement in 2019, campaigning locally on women's rights and working on a polio vaccination scheme, and that he was shot at near his home in incidents in April and May 2020. He says he then fled, obtaining a student visa and flying to the UK in October 2020, and claimed asylum on 31 December 2020. The Secretary of State refused the protection claim on 2 November 2023, accepting that political opinion was a Convention reason but disputing credibility. The appeal was listed several times: a hearing due in February 2025 was adjourned for lack of court time after Times PBS came on the record five days beforehand, and a hearing on 13 November 2025 was adjourned by Judge Scullion so that the respondent could consider evidence uploaded that morning. A further supplementary statement was filed days before the substantive hearing at Hatton Cross on 18 August 2026, at which the appellant appeared unrepresented, his representatives having neither attended nor complied with directions.