IHC dismisses petitions seeking private hospital treatment, overseas calls for Adiala prisoners

ISLAMABAD, Aug 31 (APP): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday dismissed petitions filed by three Adiala Jail prisoners seeking treatment at private hospitals and permission to speak with their family members abroad by telephone, citing the relief granted to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf founder in a similar matter.

Justice Muhammad Asif dismissed the petitions of prisoners Owais Altaf, Ilyas Khan and Muhammad Ismail after reserving the verdict on August 27.

The court observed that a prisoner could be treated at a private hospital if adequate medical facilities were not available at government hospitals in Islamabad, but such transfer could only be made on the recommendation of a medical board.

The court noted that there was no dispute that judgments of the Supreme Court were binding on all High Courts. However, it said the directions issued by the Supreme Court on August 18, were interim in nature and the case relied upon by the petitioners was still pending before the apex court. Therefore, the interim order could not be treated as a final judgment, the court observed.

In its decision on Muhammad Ismail’s petition, the IHC held that the petitioner had failed to establish that an office order dated August 2 was illegal or that his fundamental rights had been violated.

The court observed that if WhatsApp, video calls or any other means of communication were legally available to prisoners, the relevant authorities could consider such requests. Any such facility, however, would remain subject to jail discipline, security requirements and the Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978.

While rejecting Owais Altaf’s request for transfer to a private hospital, the court held that treatment at a private hospital could not be claimed as a fundamental right without a medical board’s opinion that the required treatment was unavailable at the jail or government hospital.

The court observed that where necessary medical facilities were not available at government hospitals in Islamabad, a medical board could be constituted to assess the prisoner’s condition.

It further clarified that a prisoner could be shifted to a private hospital for treatment only on the recommendation of the medical board.