Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan met his wife, Bushra Bibi, and sister Noreen Niazi at Adiala Jail on Tuesday after a gap of around nine months, hours after Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered authorities to take the imprisoned former prime minister to a private hospital in Islamabad for a medical examination.
Express Tribune reported that the Supreme Court ordered authorities to take Khan to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad in the coming days and have him examined by a medical board that will include specialists and one of his personal physicians, Faisal Sultan.
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The three-judge panel also ordered prison officials to allow Khan weekly meetings with family members and telephone calls with his sons. Khan’s family has been struggling to secure access to him and have him examined by physicians of his choice.
Hours after the order, authorities allowed one of Khan’s sisters to visit him. Pakistan had barred visitors earlier this year after receiving intelligence reports about a possible attack on the prison where he is being held.
Noreen met Imran for approximately 15 minutes. According to Express Tribune citing jail sources, she briefed him about the Supreme Court’s order regarding his transfer to Islamabad’s Shifa hospital. She also enquired about his health and discussed some ongoing legal matters with him.
After the meeting, Noreen confirmed that she had met Imran but did not speak to the media, in accordance with an assurance given before the court. She later left Adiala Jail with her sisters Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan.
Jail sources said Imran also met Bushra Bibi, with their meeting lasting around 30 to 35 minutes.
Earlier, Bushra Bibi met her daughter, Mubashra Sheikh, and sister-in-law Mehrunnisa. Their meeting also lasted around 30 to 35 minutes, according to the sources.
Noreen was among Imran’s three sisters who reached the Dahgal checkpoint on the road leading to Adiala Jail following the court’s order. Police initially stopped Aleema, Dr Uzma and Noreen at the checkpoint but later allowed only Noreen to proceed towards the prison.
WHY PAK SUPREME COURT ORDERED MEDICAL EXAMINATION?
The order came months after Khan petitioned the court, asking to be transferred from a high-security prison in the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi to a hospital and to be allowed access to his personal physicians, family and lawyers.
According to Khan’s lawyer Salman Akram Raja, the court issued the order because Khan’s health was at stake and access to medical care is protected under Pakistan’s Constitution.
Raja urged Khan’s supporters not to gather outside the hospital when the former prime minister is taken there, saying they should avoid inconveniencing other patients.
Earlier this year, Khan was repeatedly taken to a government hospital for treatment of an eye condition.
Concerns about Khan’s health intensified in late January after his family said he had lost about 85 per cent of the vision in his right eye, an assertion the government disputed. Authorities later said Khan had regained about 70 per cent of the vision in the eye and that his condition was improving.
IMRAN’S PARTY WELCOMES SUPREME COURT ORDER
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party welcomed the court ruling and called on authorities to implement it without delay. The party said the order addressed longstanding concerns about Khan’s health and access to medical care.
However, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said in televised remarks that the government had reviewed the part of the order concerning Khan’s medical treatment and would ask the court to seek a review of the decision.
Tarar said officials had also discussed other aspects of the ruling and questioned whether the order would apply to all prisoners with health problems. He noted that many inmates have medical issues and are generally treated at government hospitals.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Aleema expressed happiness over the Supreme Court order.
“Words cannot describe how happy I am about the meeting. I cannot even imagine where I would have got sweets from. I have appeared before the ATC Rawalpindi from the Supreme Court,” she said.
Asked whether she had received any indication that circumstances were changing, Aleema said, “Where are we supposed to get any indication from? Do you mean this meeting? Yes, something has happened together, but we are still uncertain.”
The Supreme Court’s three-member bench, headed by Justice Shahid Waheed, directed the government to facilitate weekly meetings between Imran and his family amid concerns over his health. The court was hearing petitions concerning the PTI founder’s access to his sisters and personal physicians, as well as his medical condition.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
