Attock jail officials told to provide medical facilities to Imran Khan, allow meetings with family & friends

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday directed the Attock Jail administration to provide former prime minister Imran Khan with “appropriate medical facilities” and allow him to meet his friends and family according to law.

“He (the former prime minister) may also be provided with the prayer mat and English version of the Holy Quran,” the court said.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Khan was on August 5 declared guilty by a trial court here of “corrupt practices” in the Toshakhana case for concealing details of state gifts.

The 70-year-old leader was sentenced to three years in prison and was soon arrested and taken to the Attock Jail in Punjab province.

The trial court had ordered the Islamabad police chief to arrest Khan but he was instead arrested by the Lahore police.

Moreover, the court had ordered the Adiala Jail superintendent to receive Khan but the former premier was taken to the Attock Jail.

The former prime minister was given B-Class facilities by the Punjab prisons department.

His lawyers however claimed that he was being kept in “distressing conditions” and was provided “C-Class jail facilities”.

The cricketer-turned-politician had subsequently moved the Islamabad High Court seeking his transfer from Attock Jail to a better class in Adiala Jail of Rawalpindi.

Khan has also sought permission for regular visits by his legal team, family members, physician Faisal Sultan and political aides to the jail.

PTI lawyers on Friday also expressed “serious apprehensions” over Khan's safety in Attock Jail.

At the previous hearing, the court reserved its verdict on the plea, with IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq saying he will “issue an appropriate order” on it.

In a written order issued on Saturday, the court sought a report from the respondents on the “reasons which led to the petitioner’s confinement in Attock jail” instead of Adiala jail.

Citing Rule 92 of the Pakistan Prison Rules 1978 (PPR), the notice said: “Every convicted prisoner is to be allowed a reasonable opportunity to interview his relatives, friends and legal advisors for the purpose of preparing his appeal”.

“Every such interview is to be allowed within sight but out of hearing of the prison official supervising the interview.

“It seems that there is nothing on record which bars an interview with the prisoner more than once a week. The jail authorities shall provide a reasonable opportunity to the relatives/ friends/legal advisors of the petitioner to seek [an] interview,” the order reads.

The court further directed that the PTI chairman be provided with a prayer mat and a copy of the English version of the Holy Quran, as well as “appropriate medical facilities to cater [to] his health and wellbeing”.

The order reiterated that the former premier be provided with “all the facilities as per his entitlement” under the PPR.

Separately, the Islamabad High Court sought the complete record of the Toshakhana corruption case against Khan.

The order was issued by a division bench comprising Justice Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri on Khan's petition against his conviction by a trial court in the corruption case.