Islamabad HC asks jail admin to provide Imran Khan medical facilities

Policemen escort Imran Khan as he arrives at the high court in Islamabad on May 9, during his first bail hearing. Pic/Getty Images

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday directed the Attock Jail administration to provide former prime minister Imran Khan with "appropriate medical facilities" and allow him to meet his friends and family according to law. "He (the former prime minister) may also be provided with the prayer mat and English version of the Holy Quran," quoted the court as saying.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Khan was on August 5 declared guilty by a trial court here of "corrupt practices" in the Toshakhana case for concealing details of state gifts. The 70-year-old leader was sentenced to three years in prison and was soon arrested and taken to the Attock Jail in Punjab province.

The trial court had ordered the Islamabad police chief to arrest Khan, but he was instead arrested by the Lahore police. Moreover, the court had ordered the Adiala Jail superintendent to receive Khan but the former premier was taken to the Attock Jail. The former prime minister was given B-Class facilities by the Punjab prisons department.

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His lawyers, however, claimed that he was being kept in ‘distressing conditions' and was provided "C-Class jail facilities". The cricketer-turned-politician had subsequently moved the Islamabad High Court seeking his transfer from Attock Jail to a better class in Adiala Jail of Rawalpindi. Khan has also sought permission for regular visits by his legal team, family members, physician Faisal Sultan and political aides to the jail.