A top Pakistani court on Wednesday sought responses from the federal and Punjab provincial governments to a petition filed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan seeking a transfer from Attock to Adiala prison.
On Monday, the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking transfer from Attock Jail to a better class in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. The former prime minister also sought permission for regular visits by his legal team, family members, physician Faisal Sultan and political aides to the jail in Punjab province.
During the hearing of Khan's petition, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said he would issue an order granting Khan's legal team permission to meet the former premier, the Dawn newspaper reported. On the issue of Khan's transfer from Attock to Adiala jail, the court sought responses from the federal and Punjab governments and adjourned the hearing till August 11.
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Khan was arrested on Saturday last week shortly after an Islamabad trial court found him guilty of "corrupt practices" in the Toshakhana case and sentenced him to three years in jail. Soon after the verdict, he was arrested by the Punjab police from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore. The trial court had ordered the Islamabad police chief to arrest the PTI chairman but he was instead arrested by the Lahore police. The court had also ordered the Adiala Jail superintendent to receive Khan, but he was instead taken to the Attock Jail.
Khan's lawyers claimed that he was being kept in “distressing conditions” and was provided “C-Class facilities” in the jail in Punjab province. Khan’s attorney Naeem Haider Panjotha has said the jail cell where the former captain of the country's World Cup-winning cricket team is being held was infested with flies and bugs. He is in a small room “which has an open washroom”, Panjotha said after meeting Khan in prison on Monday.
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The cricketer-turned-politician has been accused of illegally selling state gifts for profit worth USD 497,500. Khan has denied wrongdoings, saying he legally bought the gifts from Toshakhana, a government-owned treasure house.
