ISLAMABAD: Aleema Khan has challenged the alleged solitary confinement of her brother, PTI founder Imran Khan, before the Islamabad High Court (IHC), describing his detention conditions as unlawful and inhumane, it emerged on Saturday.
The petition, filed through Barrister Salman Safdar, names the Adiala jail superintendent, the inspector general of prisons, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general and the executive director of Pims as respondents.
According to the petition, during a lawyers’ meeting held on April 8, it emerged that Imran had been kept in solitary confinement for 22 hours a day, while his wife, Bushra Bibi, was allegedly confined in isolation for 24 hours a day.
The petition further contended that no member of Imran’s family or the PTI leadership had been allowed to meet him for the past six months. It also argued that no judicial order had authorised solitary confinement as part of his sentence, making the continued isolation unlawful.
Aleema claimed that her brother was being subjected to inhumane treatment and informed his legal counsel that his eyesight had deteriorated significantly, with approximately 85 per cent of his vision allegedly affected. The petition maintained that solitary confinement was among the harshest forms of punishment and cannot be imposed without legal authority.
The petitioner further requested the IHC to declare Imran’s alleged solitary confinement illegal and direct the authorities to end the practice.
Recently, a petition was filed in the IHC by Bushra’s daughter, Mubashra Khawar Maneka, against the alleged solitary confinement of her mother.
Imran — imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023, for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts — is serving a 14-year sentence at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in the £190m case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case.
An accountability court in Islamabad had sentenced Imran and Bushra to 14 and seven years in prison, respectively, on Jan 17, 2025, in the case. Subsequently, both had challenged their convictions before the IHC.
The IHC has scheduled a hearing of the couple’s appeals against their convictions in the case on Monday.
The case alleges that the couple obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd to legalise Rs50 billion identified and returned to the country by the United Kingdom during the PTI government.
Imran’s eye ailment — right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) — came to light in late January. Under a government-provided treatment, his first medical procedure was carried out on January 24, with the fifth one conducted on June 15.
A report prepared by a team of doctors who visited Imran on February 15 stated that, unaided, Imran’s right eye had 6/24 partial vision and 6/9 in the left. It said that with glasses, the ex-premier’s vision was 6/9 partial in the right and 6/6 in the left.
Over the past few months, the government and the opposition have been engaged in a blame game, with the latter accusing the former of a lack of transparency in not ensuring appropriate treatment for Imran, and not allowing his personal physicians access to him. The government denies these allegations.
The PTI and Imran’s family have demanded that the ex-premier be provided access to his personal physicians and a hospital of his choice. They have also raised concerns about a lack of prior knowledge of his hospital visits for treatment.