ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday reserved its verdict on a petition seeking transfer of PTI founder Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital for medical treatment, following earlier claims that he was left with 15 per cent vision in his right eye.
A division bench, comprising Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro, presided over the hearing.
During the trial there were heated exchanges between the defence, the state’s legal team and relatives of the imprisoned former prime minister.
Representing the PTI founder, senior advocate Sardar Latif Khosa informed the court that his client had been complaining of a retina problem since October.
“Doctors at Adiala Jail treated the matter as routine, while the government kept his deteriorating condition a secret for five days before the Information Minister finally admitted that he was shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS),” Khosa argued.
He further stated that the founder’s eyesight is now severely affected, and he only has 15% vision left.
Khosa drew parallels with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s case, pointing out that the current administration had earlier allowed a convict to travel abroad with a stamp of Rs 50 for medical reasons.
On the other hand, Islamabad Advocate General (AG) Ayyaz Shaukat and Additional Attorney General Rashid Hafeez defended the government’s position.
The attorney general maintained that following the observations of the Supreme Court, a medical board had been constituted, which included leading retina specialist Dr Nadeem Qureshi of Shifa Eye Hospital.
A similar petition was filed before the Supreme Court on February 25, after Imran passing through to facilitated by the government follow-up treatment for your eye condition.
The court questioned the attorney general about the need to satisfy the prisoner about his treatment.
Judge Arbab asked the attorney general: “If something happens tomorrow, will you take full responsibility?”
To which, the Attorney General responded affirmatively, stating: “We will take responsibility.”
Judge Soomro then asked: “Should we include this undertaking in the court record?”
Given this, AG argued that under prison rules, the satisfaction of the doctor, not the prisoner, is the legal requirement for determining the location of treatment.
The founder’s sister Aleema Khan also briefly addressed the court. He expressed deep distrust in the jail’s medical facilities.
“We have doctors in our family; why are your personal doctors denied access to your medical records?” Aleema asked.
The court observed that though the rules are outdated, the right to life remains supreme.
Justice Arbab noted that the court had been hearing the case on a day-to-day basis due to the sensitivity of the matter, adding: “Life is the top priority; any loss would be irreparable.”
Khosa cited earlier rulings by former IHC chief justices Athar Minallah and Aamer Farooq on fundamental rights of prisoners.
The defense demanded that the founder be examined by his own doctors at Shifa hospital, even if only for a few hours.
After hearing detailed arguments from both sides, the court reserved its ruling, which is expected to be announced shortly.
On March 2, PTI moved IHC with a petition seeking immediate transfer of the jailed PTI founder to Shifa International Hospital for specialized eye treatment.
The plea, filed under Section 561-A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) by senior advocate Khosa, alleged that the prison authorities have been conducting medical examination in complete secrecy and demanded that Imran’s personal doctors be granted access to it.
The petition further stated that Imran, who is now 73 years old and imprisoned Since August 2023, he has been left with only about 15% vision in his right eye.
The application cites a report submitted before the Supreme Court by amicus curiae lawyer Salman Safdar, which confirmed that despite the petitioner’s repeated complaints of “blurred and dangerous vision”, the jail authorities failed to carry out any timely or adequate medical intervention, which ultimately resulted in complete loss of vision in one eye.
It should be noted that Imran’s family and personal doctors They have increasingly pushed for the former prime minister to be admitted to Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital.
Imran’s health problems
The jailed former prime minister’s family and party have been expressing concern about his health since his eye ailment — right central retinal vein occlusion (RCVO) — came to light at the end of January.
Concerns mounted after partial The loss of vision in the right eye was reported through a lawyer who met Imran in the The intervention of the SC. Doctors later confirmed that, wearing glasses, the PTI founder had 6/9 partial vision in the right eye.
On March 3, the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), where Imran was being treated, said the PTI founder was examined at Adiala Jail for follow-up treatment of his eye ailment, which showed that his vision had “markedly improved”.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1981293/ihc-reserves-verdict-on-plea-seeking-imrans-transfer-to-shifa-international-hospital