LAHORE: Bushra Bibi’s daughter has moved the Lahore High Court (LHC), requesting to be allowed a meeting with her mother in Adiala Jail, it emerged on Friday.
Bushra is serving a seven-year sentence in the £190 million corruption case. She was recently sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment in the Toshakhana 2 case, which revolved around the purchase of an expensive jewelry set gifted to ex-premier Imran Khan by the Saudi crown prince during his May 2021 visit.
Bushra’s daughter, Mubashra Khawar Maneka, filed the petition through LHC Bar President Asif Niswana under Article 199 of the Constitution.
The petition, a copy of which is available with Dawn, named the Punjab government, via the home department secretary, the provincial inspector general of prisons, and the superintendent of Adiala jail as respondents.
It said that Maneka was a “law-abiding citizen of Pakistan” as well as the real biological daughter of Bushra Bibi, and was “aggrieved” by the “unlawful, arbitrary, and unjustified refusal of the jail authorities to allow her to meet her mother, despite repeated requests, clear entitlement under law, and absence of any legal bar”.
“The petitioner, being her (Bushra’s) real daughter, is deeply concerned about her physical, emotional and psychological well-being,” the petition stated.
It added that under the Pakistan Prison Rules as well as the Constitution, prisoners were entitled to family visitation, particularly by immediate blood relatives, “subject only to reasonable security regulations”.
According to the petition, Maneka had made repeated visits and requests to meet her mother but had been denied access, although she had not been informed of “any security concern, restriction, prohibition or legal impediment” that justified the denial.
“The refusal is therefore arbitrary, discriminatory and violative of Pakistan prison rules and the fundamental rights granted by the Constitution of Pakistan 1973,” it said.
Further, the petition said that the sustained denial of meetings over a long time had caused mental agony, emotional trauma and psychological distress to the petitioner.
It pointed out that the right to life and liberty guaranteed by Article 9 of the Constitution included the right to dignity, emotional well-being and family association, while Article 14 further ensured the inviolability of human dignity, including for prisoners.
The petition requested that the LHC “issue a direction to the respondents to immediately allow the petitioner to meet her real mother, Mrs Bushra Imran Khan, at Central Jail Adiala, Rawalpindi, on any designated visitation day and time deemed appropriate”.
It also requested that the court declare the denial of visitation to immediate family members without lawful justification to be “illegal, unconstitutional and void”, and to direct the respondents of the petition to adhere to Pakistan’s Prison Rules and constitutional safeguards regarding family visitation.
