PTI files contempt petition in SC over alleged violation of order on Imran's hospital transfer

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday filed a contempt of court petition in the Supreme Court (SC) over the alleged violation of the court’s Tuesday order concerning the transfer of founder Imran Khan to a hospital.

The development emerged after Imran was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for a medical examination in the early hours of Friday and returned to Adiala jail after doctors declared him "medically fit". Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Imran was taken to the government-run facility because of the security situation created by PTI workers outside and on the way to Shifa International Hospital.

PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja reached the SC today, where the petition was filed by Imran's sister Uzma Khan, lawyer Uzair Bhandari and Raja.

The petition sought proceedings over the violation of the SC’s Tuesday order, including issuance of show-cause notices to the respondents, contemnors and orders for their personal appearance.

The petition asked the court to declare the respondents guilty of contempt of court and punish them in accordance with law.

Read: Govt calls SC order to shift Imran to private hospital 'discriminatory', files review petition

It further sought the immediate transfer of PTI founder to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad and his medical examination there and pleaded the court to appoint a court officer or a local commission to ensure implementation of the order.

A contempt of court petition has named Chief Commissioner Islamabad Sohail Ashraf, the interior secretary, the inspector general of prisons and a jail superintendent as respondents over alleged non-compliance with directions issued by the SC.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and the federal information minister have also been made respondents in the petition.

The petition maintains that immediately after the court order, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry issued a statement regarding its implementation.

It further states that on the evening of August 18, the law minister announced that a review petition would be filed, while the inspector general of prisons said the prisoner could only be shifted to a government hospital. According to the petition, a review petition was filed on August 19 but was later withdrawn.

The petition also refers to statements by the information minister regarding the hospital where the PTI founder was to be shifted. It says the minister did not name any hospital in his first tweet, while PIMS Hospital was named in a second tweet.

The petition alleges that four directions contained in the SC's order were violated.

The first alleged violation was the failure to transfer PTI founder Imran to Shifa Hospital.

The second was the failure to constitute a medical board,

Meanwhile, the third was the failure to have him examined through a medical board.

The fourth alleged violation was the failure to include Dr Faisal Sultan in the medical board, according to the petition.

It argues that the security situation was not a valid justification for not transferring Imran to Shifa Hospital.

The petition also cites a SC ruling in the Adnan A. Khawaja case, arguing that responsibility for non-compliance with a court order rests with the chief executive, namely the prime minister.

The same principle was applied in the Yousuf Raza Gilani case, according to the petition, which argues that it should also apply in the present case.

Speaking about the timing of the petition, Raja said that if the contempt petition had been filed the following day, it would have been taken up on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.

“It has been filed today as well, so the same thing will happen. It is not the case that the bench will sit and start hearing it within an hour,” he said.

He said this could happen if the court had a special intention to take up the matter.

“If we had filed it tomorrow, it would have been taken up tomorrow. It is wrong to say otherwise,” he added.

The SC has adjourned the hearing of the case until September 16.

A day earlier, the Islamabad chief commissioner has challenged the SC’s August 18 order directing the transfer of Imran to a private hospital, arguing that the decision contains apparent legal errors and conflicts with prison rules.

The SC had ordered that Imran be shifted to Shifa International Hospital for treatment for the next few days and directed the government to arrange weekly meetings between him and his family.

In response, the government had filed a review petition before the SC, describing its order as “discriminatory in nature”.

On Thursday, the SC returned the review petition due to an objection that the required paper books had not been completed along with the review plea, according to sources.

In a review petition filed before the Supreme Court, the chief commissioner has requested the court to reconsider its Tuesday order.

The petition argued that transferring a convicted prisoner to a private hospital is contrary to the Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978, which contain no provision for admitting prisoners to private hospitals.

On Tuesday, SC ordered that Imran be shifted to Shifa International Hospital for treatment for the next few days and directed the government to arrange weekly meetings between him and his family.

The hearing came after a medical board report and a report by the Adiala Jail Superintendent submitted to the SC on Monday recommended more frequent meetings between Imran and his immediate family and spouse to help manage his blood pressure and anxiety, highlighting concerns over the former premier's blood pressure (BP).

Read more: Wasting opportunity to ease political tensions is 'tantamount to treason': Achakzai

Govt defends 'last-minute' switch from Shifa

Tarar said the examination was conducted under tight security in the light of the SC's directive, with a team comprising an ophthalmologist, cardiologist and physician examining Imran. His sister Uzma was also present during the examination.

The minister later clarified that doctors from Al Shifa Hospital were also present at PIMS, adding that Imran was taken to the government-run facility because of the security situation created by PTI workers outside and on the way to Shifa International Hospital.

Tarar's initial statement did not specifically identify the hospital where Imran had been taken.

The information minister subsequently clarified that Imran was taken to PIMS, a government-run facility where the PTI founder has received treatment for an eye ailment in recent months.

Opposition alliance takes shape

Opposition parties on Friday night agreed to form a joint opposition in Parliament, with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman saying the alliance would seek to play a more effective role amid worsening law and order, growing challenges to the government's writ and "a lack of preparedness to deal with the country's crises".

The announcement came after a meeting of opposition leaders at Fazlur Rehman's residence in Islamabad.

National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai warned that the opposition would approach international courts if it was "forced" to do so, while Raja said the opposition was currently uniting inside Parliament and that the "next phase" would see the alliance take its politics to the streets.