Bushra seeks sentence suspension on medical grounds

An application has been submitted to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking suspension of the sentence of Bushra Bibi, the wife of incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, in the Al-Qadir Trust case on medical grounds. As the IHC division bench led by Chief Justice Sardar Sarfraz Dogar resumes hearing of Bushra Bibi and Imran's pleas seeking suspension of their sentences on April 22, their counsel Salman Safdar has moved an application to explain her health condition. The court has been requested to proceed with hearing and deciding, on priority and on merits, the applicant's application for suspension of sentence in the interest of justice and fair play. The application has been pending before the IHC for more than a year. The application has further requested the IHC to summon the superintendent of jail, the deputy superintendent of jail and the head of the Ophthalmology Department at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Rawalpindi, and direct them to appear with complete medical record, including operation notes, diagnosis, treatment history, and all relevant documents relating to the surgery performed on Bushra Bibi. "The Applicant be forthwith shifted to Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Rawalpindi for proper postoperative treatment under continuous medical supervision, and that the concerned jail authorities be directed to ensure regular, meaningful, and unhindered access to the Applicant's counsel and family members in accordance with law and prior judicial directions", it is further prayed," the application stated. "Bushra Bibi has been subjected to prolonged incarceration, repeated delays in adjudication of her application for suspension of sentence, continued denial of access to counsel, and now serious medical deterioration culminating in a surgical procedure conducted under undisclosed circumstances," it added. "All these factors, when viewed cumulatively, establish extreme hardship, violation of fundamental rights, and manifest abuse of process, thereby entitling the Applicant to immediate judicial relief." The application noted that Bushra Bibi being a woman, convicted on "allegations of aiding and abetting" and sentenced to a term of seven years, is entitled to the concession of bail on statutory as well as humanitarian grounds, particularly in circumstances where her appeal has remained pending for a considerable period of over a year and her medical condition has significantly deteriorated during incarceration. It stated that continued detention of the applicant in such circumstances would serve "no useful purpose" and would amount to perpetuating irreparable harm. "During the pendency of the proceedings, the counsel for the applicant and her family were abruptly and informally informed by the jail authorities that the applicant had undergone an eye surgery due to certain complications. It is a matter of serious concern and grave alarm that neither the counsel nor any member of the Applicant's family was informed or consulted prior to the said medical procedure, nor was any prior disclosure ever made regarding any deterioration in the medical condition of the Applicant which could necessitate such a surgical intervention. "The entire process appears to have been conducted in complete opacity, without adherence to basic standards of transparency and without affording the Applicant the benefit of consultation with her counsel or family," the application stated.