Another plea for justice

A petition-cum-appeal from former prime minister Imran Khan has landed before the Supreme Court, seeking medical treatment and access to personal physician, lawyers and family. It is an enigma why Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, are continually deprived of facilities that are lawful under jail manual. It's been more than 150 days that the incarcerated PTI chairman has not had any visitors. Thus, the new plea before the apex court deserves an instant hearing and treatment as per law.

With discrimination pretty evident, the lords are expected to exhibit magnanimity, as similar requests in the past had been dumped for reasons beyond lawful explanation. The refusal on the part of Islamabad High Court earlier to allow the mentioned facilities was in contravention of law and the Constitution, and speaks of transgression of powers that has been in vogue since the passage of the controversial 26th and 27th amendments that brought the judiciary under the scanner of the executive.

That Khan is suffering from an eye ailment that could prove lethal necessitates immediate intervention. The top court is already seized with this case, having twice sent in its amicus curiae to ascertain the detained leader's actual prison conditions. Likewise, appeals against Khan's conviction in two of the last cases in which he is serving sentences must also come up for regular hearing, and justice dispensed in all seriousness. The delaying tactics such as refusal of bail and not fixing the cases for hearing as well as highhandedness from police and jail bureaucracy are unbecoming attitudes.

Pakistan's political mosaic is infected with instability. The judiciary too is in rough waters as it has not lived up to the expectations of fairness and transparency. The least it could do is to go by the book and decide the cases of all political prisoners with impartiality. Khan has been knocking on the doors of the judiciary for a while, and it's time he was heard in all solemnity.