IHC reserves verdict on Imran's jail plea

Says verdicts of accountability courts do not provide for solitary confinement

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday reserved its verdict on the maintainability of petitions challenging the alleged solitary confinement of former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in Adiala Jail following their conviction in the £190 million corruption case.

A single-member bench comprising Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro heard the petitions filed by Imran's sister Aleema Khan and Bushra's daughter Mubashra Khawar Maneka.

During the hearing, Justice Soomro observed that the judgements delivered by accountability courts in the £190 million and Toshakhana-I cases do not provide for solitary confinement.

"I have examined both judgments. There is no punishment of solitary confinement. We will first decide whether these petitions are maintainable. If they are held to be maintainable, notices will then be issued to the jail authorities seeking their response," the judge remarked.

Counsel for the petitioners, Barrister Salman Safdar, argued that the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi had been kept in solitary confinement for several months in violation of jail rules and international standards, particularly the Nelson Mandela Rules.

He told the court that previous petitions had referred to solitary confinement only as background and had not specifically sought its termination. Safdar submitted that Bushra had not been allowed to receive visitors for the past seven months.

He said after meeting Imran pursuant to a court order, it emerged that he was being kept in solitary confinement for about 22 hours a day, while Bushra was allegedly confined for 24 hours a day.

The lawyer further submitted that the PTI founder was 74 years old, had lost vision in one eye and both he and Bushra Bibi had undergone eye surgeries, yet continued to be held in isolation.

He added that although he had been allowed to meet the PTI founder under a court order, he had not been granted permission to meet Bushra Bibi for the past seven months.

NAB prosecutor Rafi Maqsood objected to the petitions, arguing that Aleema Khan and Mubashra Khawar Maneka were not aggrieved parties and therefore lacked the legal standing to file the petitions.

He told the court that the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi were not being held in solitary confinement and that matters relating to convicted prisoners were governed by the jail rules. He contended that the petitioners had not approached the jail authorities before filing the constitutional petitions.

In rebuttal, Safdar argued that if the government denied the allegations of solitary confinement, the court could summon the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi to ascertain the facts directly from them.