Aleema Khan moves IHC against PTI founder Imran Khan’s ‘solitary confinement’

ISLAMABAD: Aleema Khan, sister of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan, filed a writ petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday, challenging his prolonged solitary confinement at Central Jail Adiala, Rawalpindi, terming it illegal and a violation of fundamental rights.

Imran — imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023, for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts — is serving a 14-year sentence at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in the £190m case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case.

The petition, filed through Barrister Salman Safdar and Salman Akram Raja, names the superintendent and deputy superintendent of Adiala jail, the inspector general of prisons, Punjab, chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the director general Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the medical superintendent of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), and the state as respondents.

The petitioner argued that no court has sentenced the 74-year-old former prime minister to solitary confinement in either the Al-Qadir Trust Case or the Toshakhana-II case. The petition alleged that jail authorities have kept him in isolation for approximately 22 hours daily for the last six months without any legal sanction.

Citing Section 73 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Rules 639 and 1019 of the Pakistan Prisons Rules, 1978, the petition stated that solitary confinement can only be awarded by a court and cannot exceed 14 days at a time. The petition termed the prolonged isolation as “patently illegal, devoid of lawful authority, and amounting to inhuman and degrading treatment”.

The petition further alleged that the PTI founder has lost 85 per cent of the vision in his right eye due to an ailment for which he was taken to Pims hospital on four occasions.

However, neither family members nor his legal counsel were informed about the nature of his disease or the treatment being administered. Despite repeated injections, there has been no improvement in his eyesight, and he has not been formally admitted to any hospital for proper diagnosis, the petition stated.

It also alleged that the former superintendent of Adiala jail, Abdul Ghafoor Anjum, was transferred due to deliberate indifference and failure to ensure timely medical treatment.

According to the petition, the PTI founder informed his counsel during court-mandated meetings that his wife, Bushra Bibi, is also being kept in solitary confinement for 24 hours a day at the same jail. The petition stated that neither television, books, nor any reading material is being provided to him, and lawyers are being prevented from meeting him for legal consultations or executing powers of attorney. Moreover, the PTI chairman, secretary general, and other office holders of the party are not being allowed to meet him.

Citing Articles 9 and 14 of the Constitution, the petition declared that solitary confinement amounts to torture prohibited under the Constitution. It also invoked the United Nations Nelson Mandela Rules, which prohibit indefinite and prolonged solitary confinement as incompatible with human dignity.

The petition prayed the court to declare the solitary confinement and incommunicado detention of the PTI founder as illegal, unlawful, without lawful authority, and violative of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of Pakistan.

Over the past year, PTI leaders and Imran’s family have claimed that the former prime minister is being kept in solitary confinement at Adiala jail amid growing concerns over his health.

Earlier this month, Imran’s counsel Safdar also urged the IHC to consider his client’s release on hum­anitarian and compassionate grounds, citing prolonged solitary confinement and an eye infection.