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