ISLAMABAD: On Tuesday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed the Registrar’s Office’s objections and scheduled the hearing of Bushra Bibi’s petition for security and protection for her husband, Imran Khan, in Adiala Jail, for tomorrow (Thursday).
Aamer Farooq, Chief Justice of the IHC, heard the petition and the Registrar’s Office’s objections. Bushra Bibi’s attorney, Latif Khosa Advocate, stated in court that Bushra Bibi, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was in danger of dying in custody.
Bushra Bibi moves IHC to safeguard Imran
The petition was fixed for hearing after the court overruled the Registrar’s Office’s objections. Additionally, the court agreed to Khosa’s request for the petition to be heard on Thursday, October 5.
Bushra stated her worry in the petition that the food her husband was eating in jail might be contaminated. She claimed that Imran was denied access to the home-cooked dinner, which used to be available to detainees awaiting trial.
She argued that any tainted food might endanger Imran’s life.
Additionally, according to Bushra, the PTI chairman was not receiving the facilities to which he was entitled under the Jail Manual. She later clarified that articles 9 and 14 of the Constitution were broken by “the inhumane treatment” given to her husband while he was imprisoned.
On September 26, Imran was transferred to the Adiala Jail by the IHC.
The other night, the police deployed elite commandos and added security pickets to the area surrounding the Adiala Jail to ensure maximum protection.
Later, Imran’s attorney Naeem Haider Panjutha revealed to media that Bushra had met the former prime minister on Tuesday at Adiala Jail and warned that Imran’s life was in danger.
“I worry Imran could progressively become food poisoned… He is being physically restrained and subjected to mental torture, the man claimed.
Panjutha claimed to have heard yesterday night that the PTI leader had been transferred to a lower-class cell. He asserted that these were brand-new techniques for “breaking” Imran: “Security personnel have been stationed outside the cell and mobile phones have been taken for them.”
Imran was detained in the Attock District Jail following his Toshakhana case conviction before being transferred to the Adiala Jail.
The IHC suspended his sentence last month, but he was caught in the cipher case shortly after. Inside the Attock jail, the cipher case trial was still in progress.
On Wednesday (today), the case would now be handled by the special court within the Adiala Jail. Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain of the special court had earlier sent a letter to the law ministry asking for its opinion on the trial that was taking on within the prison.
The judge stated that the matter might be handled in a special court under the Official Secrets Act if there were no security concerns over Imran’s protection. A request by the FIA for an in-camera hearing of the case would also be considered by the court.
Separately, the PTI chairman appealed the accountability court’s decision to deny his bail requests in the Toshakhana and £190 million corruption cases on August 10.
He claimed that his absence from court caused his bail requests to be denied. He said that because he was in custody on that day, he was unable to attend in court. He asked the court to reverse the accountability court’s rulings from August 10 and grant him temporary bail while his motions were being considered.
Despite the Registrar’s Office’s protests, both petitions were scheduled for hearings on Wednesday (today), over the objections of a division bench led by Chief Justice Farooq and Justice Babar Sattar.
