ISLAMABAD: The superintendent of Adiala Jail, where former prime minister Imran Khan is incarcerated, has requested the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to club together all petitions regarding prison facilities provided to the ex-PM and his rights in the jail for hearing.
Acting chief justice of the IHC Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar will hear the petition, which has been filed under Section 24 of the Civil Procedure Code by SSP Abdul Ghafoor Anjum.
The court was also requested that all pending cases and appeals against decided cases in this regard be heard by a single or larger bench of the IHC.
The PTI has filed several petitions in the IHC regarding the jail facilities provided to Mr Khan, who has been in custody since his arrest in August 2023. Most of these cases sought permission to allow family members and party leaders to meet Mr Khan, while some petitions challenged the restrictions imposed by the jail authorities. The party claimed that their leader wasn’t allowed to have visitors and was being denied his rights as a prisoner.
The SSP argued that since the cases were being heard by different benches, there have been “inconsistent” and “conflicting” judgments on the issues according to his understanding. The petition also cited several cases where different judges have issued varying orders regarding Mr Khan’s visitation rights, leading to “confusion and inefficiency”.
The judgments issued by different benches of the IHC created difficulties and uncertainty for the prison administration, SSP Anjum argued, adding that the merger of cases would ensure uniformity in adjudication and effective enforcement of judicial directives.
The petition highlighted that despite the jail authorities’ efforts to accommodate Mr Khan and other inmates, cases were filed against them, particularly regarding the PTI leader’s visitation rights.
In the petition, SSP Anjum informed the court that the jail currently houses over 8,000 inmates, far exceeding its capacity of 2,000. Despite these challenges, the jail authorities ensured that Mr Khan received all privileges under the Pakistan Prison Rules of 1978, including regular meetings with his family, lawyers and party leaders, as well as access to reading materials and newspapers.
However, multiple cases related to Mr Khan’s prison rights put additional “strain on the jail administration”, already burdened by an overwhelming number of inmates, he stated. The petitioner asserted that under the prison rules, the jail superintendent had the authority to regulate and, if necessary, disallow meetings with prisoners. It argued that the multitude of cases was undermining this authority and creating “unnecessary legal hurdles” for the jail administration.
In addition to the main petition, the jail superintendent also filed an application seeking interim relief, with the request that all case proceedings related to Mr Khan be stayed until the final disposal of the main petition.
The petitioner argued if the relief was not granted, it would do irreparable harm to the jail administration and compromise the efficient management of prison affairs.
The petition included a detailed list of over 20 cases filed by or on behalf of Mr Khan, many of which have already been decided by various benches of the IHC.
Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2025
