Medical facilities: Three Adiala jail inmates move FCC to callenge IHC verdict

ISLAMABAD: Three prisoners currently detained in Adiala Jail have challenged before the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) an Islamabad High Court (IHC) order dismissing their pleas seeking permission to undergo medical examinations at private hospitals. The Adiala Jail inmates on Tuesday filed three separate petitions, requesting the FCC to declare the IHC decision null and void, and that “the petitioners be provided with the same medical facilities as available to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan. The petitions maintained that Article 25 of the Constitution mandated equal treatment for all citizens, arguing that the three petitioners should be granted the same treatment as was ordered for Imran. It also requested the FCC to issue directions that the petitioners are allowed to communicate with family members living abroad through WhatsApp. A single-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on August 31, 26, turned down the petitions of Muhammad Ilyas Khan, Mohammad Ismail Hussain and Owais Altaf. “Three separate petitions were filed before the FCC, ” he said. They, citing a Supreme Court order concerning PTI founder Imran Khan’s medical treatment at a private hospital, had sought similar relief for themselves. They have also contended that the required treatment was not adequately available at government facilities; therefore, they requested the IHC to transfer them to Shifa International Hospital for a medical check-up. The IHC judgment noted that the petitioners have failed to demonstrate that the competent medical authority has categorically recommended their admission to a private hospital or that the treatment required cannot be provided through the facilities contemplated under Rule 197. Justice Asif wrote: “Possible deterioration of health, though deserving due consideration, cannot by itself furnish a legal basis for directing transfer to a private hospital in disregard of the prescribed procedure. ” “We are seeking interpretation of Rule 197 of the Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978, which governs the manner and mode of the transfer of a prisoner to the hospital, ” said advocate Akhtar Cheema, who has filed a petition on behalf of prisoner Muhammad Ilyas Khan. He further said that the relief had become “necessary” after the Aug 18 Supreme Court order regarding Imran, which had directed the government to shift the PTI founder to Shifa International Hospital, a private facility. However, the government had taken him to the government-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences. Cheema said that Rule 197 prescribed that inmates could be shifted to a civil hospital, arguing that the distinction being drawn by the government that the term only referred to a public hospital was wrong. He emphasized that the wording implied a distinction between a military and government hospital, adding that against the backdrop of the Aug 18 SC order, any inmate with a serious ailment could be shifted to a private hospital for treatment, paid by their family. Cheema said his client had severe internal bleeding issues and had been brought to the public hospital for treatment eight times during the last two months. “Given the condition of the public hospital system, we have no trust that my client will get appropriate medical attention at a public hospital, ” he said. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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