After orders were issued for the founder of PTI to receive treatment at a private hospital, ordinary prisoners have also approached the court.
Three prisoners at Adiala Jail filed petitions before the Islamabad High Court seeking treatment at private hospitals and permission to speak with their family members.
The Islamabad High Court issued notices to the Adiala authorities and sought para-wise comments from the jail superintendent.
Justice Muhammad Asif heard the petitions filed by prisoners Ilyas Khan, Muhammad Ismail Khan and Owais Altaf. Barrister Akhtar Cheena appeared in court and argued that the petitioner suffers from hemophilia and internal bleeding. He said the petitioner had been brought to the hospital 10 times in two months, but his condition had not improved. According to him, treatment for this condition is currently available in Pakistan only at Shifa Hospital.
Barrister Akhtar Cheena argued that the Supreme Court has ruled that if treatment for a disease is not available at a government hospital, a prisoner can be transferred to a private hospital. He said the Supreme Court judgment also made it clear that the prisoner’s family can bear the treatment expenses. Relying on the Supreme Court decision, he requested that a medical board be constituted and asked whether a prisoner could be transferred to a private hospital if a liver transplant was not available at a government hospital.
The lawyer for petitioner Owais Altaf, Syed Jaffer, appeared before the court via video link and argued that Owais Altaf suffers from fever and heart disease. He said receiving proper medical treatment is a basic right of a prisoner and requested that Owais Altaf be ordered to be transferred to Shifa Hospital since treatment was not available at a government hospital.
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