The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Monday issued notices to the Attorney General for Pakistan and other parties on appeals filed by three Adiala jail inmates seeking private hospital treatment similar to facilities granted to jailed PTI founding chairman Imran Khan.
A three-member FCC bench, headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan and comprising Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, heard three separate petitions challenging an Islamabad High Court (IHC) decision.
A single-member IHC bench had dismissed the petitions on August 31, ruling that a prisoner had no legal right to be transferred to a private hospital of his choice.
During Monday’s hearing, Justice Farooq questioned why the prisoners should be treated at private hospitals and asked why they could not receive treatment at Polyclinic or the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
Justice Najafi questioned the implementation of the jail manual, asking what benefit there would be if its provisions were not followed.
The court observed that the matter involved interpretation of the law and adjourned the hearing until Tuesday.
Following the IHC verdict, three inmates — Muhammad Ilyas Khan, Mohammad Ismail Hussain and Owais Altaf — approached the FCC, seeking to set aside the decision dismissing their pleas for medical and communication facilities.
In their constitutional petition, the prisoners referred to Article 25 of the Constitution, arguing that all citizens are equal before the law. They requested an end to what they described as discriminatory treatment and sought medical facilities equal to those available to Imran Khan.
The petitioners also referred to the Supreme Court’s August 18 order and requested that they be transferred to Shifa International Hospital for medical treatment. They further sought permission to communicate through WhatsApp with individuals living abroad, similar to the communication facilities available to Imran Khan.
