Three Adiala Jail Inmates Seek Private Hospital Treatment After Supreme Court Relief to PTI Founder

• The government’s review petition against the August 18 order concerning the PTI founder’s hospital transfer has been assigned a number by the Supreme Court.
• The Supreme Court Registrar’s Office said the review petition would be fixed for hearing in its normal turn despite a separate request for an early hearing.
• Three Adiala Jail prisoners have approached the court seeking medical and other relief after the Supreme Court’s order allowing the PTI founder to receive treatment at a private hospital.

The government’s attempt to secure an early hearing of its review petition in the case concerning the PTI founder’s transfer to a hospital has not been accepted, while three ordinary prisoners at Adiala Jail have also approached the court seeking relief following the Supreme Court’s recent order.

According to the report, the government, through the Chief Commissioner, filed a review petition challenging the court’s August 18 order concerning the PTI founder’s transfer to a hospital. The petition has now been assigned a number by the Supreme Court Registrar’s Office.

Sources said the Registrar’s Office placed a note on the review petition stating that it would be scheduled for hearing according to its normal turn. The government had separately filed an application seeking an early hearing of the matter, but the request could not secure priority scheduling.

Meanwhile, following the Supreme Court’s directions regarding the PTI founder receiving treatment at a private hospital, three prisoners held at Adiala Jail have approached the court seeking relief in their own cases.

Justice Muhammad Asif heard the applications filed by the prisoners.

A lawyer representing prisoner Ilyas Khan told the court that his client suffers from haemophilia and claimed that treatment for his condition in Pakistan is possible only at Shifa International Hospital. The lawyer referred to the Supreme Court’s decision concerning the transfer of prisoners to private hospitals and requested that a medical board be constituted to assess his client’s condition.

In a separate case, the lawyer for prisoner Awais Altaf appeared before the court through video link. He said the prisoner was suffering from fever and a heart condition and argued that adequate treatment was not possible at a government hospital. He requested the court to order his transfer to Shifa International Hospital for treatment.

The third application was filed on behalf of prisoner Muhammad Ismail. His lawyer told the court that Ismail had been imprisoned for nine years and had been unable to contact his brother in Dubai for years. The lawyer requested directions to the jail authorities to allow the prisoner to communicate with his brother through WhatsApp.

After hearing the applications, the court issued notices to the superintendent of Adiala Jail and sought a response in all three cases. Further hearing was adjourned until August 27.