“The university has no role in the selection of judges,” the varsity said in a statement on Monday. “The current cohort has been selected by the Islamabad High Court, the Peshawar High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan.”

The statement comes after Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar, who sentenced PTI chief Imran Khan to three years in prison, flew to the United Kingdom to participate in training last week.

The nine-day training is funded by the Commonwealth Secretariat, London and arranged by the University of Hull, UK. Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq nominated him for the training.

The development led to criticism from PTI followers and some experts as Dilawar went to the UK the same day he convicted the former prime minister. Khan was slapped five years

The IHC record shows Dilawar was shortlisted for a training course in London over two months ago, in May, according to a report by Dawn.

The additional district and sessions judge was one of the initial nominees for the training, but his name was dropped due to visa denial. But he was able to attend the course on the “basis of a private visa and after another nominee failed to get his visa on time”.

The university has been running human rights and rule of law training for Pakistani judges since 2014.

“Participants for the training are selected by their respective high courts,” said the varsity.