IHC directs registrar office to number pleas challenging PTI founder, Bushra Bibi’s alleged solitary confinement

ISLAMABAD, Jun 29 (APP): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the Registrar Office to remove its objections and assign diary numbers to petitions challenging the alleged solitary confinement of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and his wife, Bushra Bibi, observing that the question of maintainability would be decided on the judicial side.

Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro issued the directions while hearing petitions filed by Aleema Khan and Mubashra Khawar Maneka after the Registrar Office raised objections regarding the petitioners’ locus standi.

During the hearing, Barrister Salman Safdar, Salman Akram Raja and other counsel appeared before the court, while Aleema Khan, Shandana Gulzar and other PTI leaders were also present.

Barrister Salman Safdar argued that the Registrar Office had objected on the ground that the petitioners were not aggrieved parties. He submitted that Aleema Khan is the PTI founder’s sister, while Mubashra Khawar Maneka is Bushra Bibi’s daughter, making them competent to approach the court.

He further informed the bench that the issue of solitary confinement had previously been raised during the pending appeals, where the Chief Justice had advised the petitioners to approach the appropriate forum. Referring to past judicial precedents, including the Begum Shamim Afridi case and the petition filed by Begum Nusrat Bhutto, he argued that close family members have previously been allowed to challenge prison conditions.

Safdar contended that he had not been allowed to meet Bushra Bibi since December and had met the PTI founder only twice, once under the directions of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and once under orders of the IHC Chief Justice.

He maintained that neither the PTI founder nor Bushra Bibi had been sentenced to solitary confinement by any court and claimed they had allegedly been kept in isolation for the past seven months without being allowed family access.

During the proceedings, NAB Prosecutor Rafi Maqsood argued that after meeting the PTI founder, the defence counsel had not informed the court that he was being held in solitary confinement. He further contended that a miscellaneous application on the issue had already been dismissed during the appeal proceedings and that the matter could now only be pursued before the Supreme Court rather than through a constitutional petition under Article 199.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the court removed the Registrar Office’s objections and directed that the petitions be formally numbered. At the request of Barrister Salman Safdar, the hearing was adjourned until Tuesday, with the court observing that the issue of the petitions’ maintainability would be determined during judicial proceedings.