The number of prisoners applying for medical treatment outside jails has multiplied after a Lahore High Court bench ordered completion of the process of shifting an inmate needing urgent care to hospital within three days.
According to sources, Punjab Prisons Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Judicial Dr Qadeer Alam stated in a report submitted to the court with an appeal that the number of applications for treatment received by jail authorities from prisoners across Punjab earlier stood at 60 to 80 per month. The number has increased by about 140 per cent during the ongoing month.
After the judgment issued by the LHC Rawalpindi bench in mid-August, the number of applications has crossed 225, the report revealed.
Read Hundreds of inmates without treatment in prisons
The AIG and Additional Advocate General Mujeeb Kiani submitted the report before the LHC Rawalpindi Division Bench where the Punjab prisons department had filed an intra-court appeal (ICA) against the single bench’s verdict.
The department claimed that it faced problems in taking hardened criminals outside the jails for treatment and at least six prisoners had escaped from the custody of police officials during past five years.
It said the jail authorities had received more than 50 applications for treatment in other districts.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2021.
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