ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday reserved its verdict on upholding petitions challenging the alleged isolation 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 judgments passed by the accountability courts in the ₹190 million and Toshakhana-I cases do not provide for solitary confinement.
“I have examined both the judgments. There is no sentence of solitary confinement. We will first decide whether these petitions are admissible. If they are found admissible, notices will then be issued to the prison authorities seeking their response,” the judge remarked.
The petitioners’ counsel, Advocate Salman Safdar, argued that the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi were kept in solitary confinement for several months, in violation of prison rules and international standards, particularly the Nelson Mandela Rules.
He told the court that previous motions referred to solitary confinement only for context and did not specifically seek to end it. Safdar maintained that Bushra had not been allowed to receive visitors for the past seven months.
He said that after meeting Imran in accordance with a court order, it emerged that he was being kept in solitary confinement for around 22 hours a day, while Bushra was allegedly being held 24 hours a day.
The lawyer further argued that the PTI founder was 74 years old, had lost vision in one eye and that he and Bushra Bibi had undergone eye surgeries but were still held in solitary confinement.
He added that although he was allowed to meet the PTI founder under a court order, he had not been allowed to meet Bushra Bibi for the past seven months.
NAB prosecutor Rafi Maqsood opposed the petitions, arguing that Aleema Khan and Mubashra Khawar Maneka were not aggrieved parties and therefore did not have the legal capacity to file the petitions.
He told the court that the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi were not held in solitary confinement and matters relating to convicted prisoners were governed by prison rules. He contended that the petitioners did not contact 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 PTI founder and Bushra Bibi to verify the facts directly with them.
