IHC directs Adiala jail authorities to keep Imran, Bushra Bibi out of solitary confinement | The Express Tribune

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday directed Adiala jail authorities not to keep Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in solitary confinement, restore their meetings with family members and facilitate telephone conversations between Imran and his sons.

The court also directed the superintendent of Adiala Jail to submit an implementation report to the court within 15 days.

IHC’s Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro disposed of petitions challenging the alleged solitary confinement of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi after declaring them maintainable.

The petition was filed by Aleema Khan, who had approached the court against the alleged solitary confinement of her brother Imran, while Bushra Bibi’s daughter, Mubashra Khawar Maneka, had filed a petition against the alleged solitary confinement of her mother.

In its ruling, the court directed the superintendent of Adiala Jail to ensure that Imran and Bushra Bibi were not kept in solitary confinement.

It ordered that Imran be allowed to meet his family in accordance with jail rules and that he be facilitated in speaking to his sons by telephone.

The court said the facility would be withdrawn if telephone conversations of Imran’s conversations with his sons were used for political purposes.

The court also directed that Imran be provided with newspapers and books on a daily basis and receive medical facilities in accordance with jail rules.

The court declared the petitions maintainable in light of judicial decisions in the Nusrat Bhutto case and the Begum Shamim Afridi case.

Read: IHC seeks jail record in Imran confinement case

Earlier on August 6, IHC reserved its verdict on petitions seeking to declare the alleged solitary confinement of PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, illegal after hearing detailed arguments from both sides.

Justice Soomro observed that the court would issue an order in the matter and directed the parties to submit any judicial precedents they wished to rely upon in writing.

During the hearing, Justice Soomro observed that the judgments 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.

During the hearing, Islamabad Advocate General Naveed Malik denied that either Imran or Bushra Bibi was being held in solitary confinement.

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.