JAMMU: Defying the orders of the Supreme Court, the Pakistan Federal government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif did not shift Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan to private Shifa International Hospital on August 20 as directed earlier. On Wednesday, the government had moved a review petition in the court saying its order issued on Tuesday should be recalled as it was discriminatory.
By late evening on Thursday, the government had not moved Imran Khan to the medical facility, according to reports in the Pakistan media. Imran’s lawyer Khalid Yousaf Chadhry has now said that he will move a contempt petition against the government officials for failing to honour the apex court order.
The Sharif government has raised a technical point that Imran cannot be treated in a private hospital as doing so can lead several other convicts now in jail to seek similar relief. The brazenness and stubborn manner in which the government is dealing with Imran’s case can have far reaching consequences in the coming days, according to analysts.
Nawaz Sharif got treated in private hospital
Incidentally, it may be recalled that PM Shehbaz Sharif heads a government of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N). N in the acronym stands for Nawaz, the PM’s elder brother Mian Nawaz Sharif who had been jailed years ago during Imran Khan’s premiership. Nawaz Sharif then moved the Lahore High Court and was allowed to get treatment in a private hospital in 2018. Subsequently, Nawaz made an application in the court saying he needed advance treatment and wanted to go abroad.
Nawaz Sharif was also lodged in Adiala jail just as PTI founder Imran Khan is presently since August 5, 2023, for over three years now.
The court allowed him to leave for London and he returned only five years later in October 2023 long after Imran Khan’s ouster in April 2022 in a parliamentary vote. It was almost 18 months later after that event that Nawaz dared to return to Pakistan allegedly as part of a deal with powers that be. He led his party for some months leading up to February 2024 elections all over Pakistan.
Former Prime Minister Mohammad Khaqan Abbasi was also allowed to get treatment at a private hospital when he was jailed.
Musharraf got relief that is being denied to Imran
Then there is the case of former President Pervez Musharraf getting treatment in a private hospital and later flying out to Dubai never to return to Pakistan and face criminal cases filed against him by the government of the day.
Despite these glaring cases of the past, with different courts giving relief to political personalities, Shehbaz Sharif is adamant that Imran cannot benefit from these precedents. As such, it seems likely that in the days to come, the relations between PML-N and PTI may deteriorate further.
Late on Thursday, Chaudhry said that he would file a contempt of court petition in the Supreme Court (SC) over the government’s failure to comply with its order regarding his client’s transfer to Shifa International Hospital. “The government is violating the court order in the matter of Imran’s transfer to the hospital. The government is bound to transfer Imran to the hospital within two days; if the court order is not implemented, we will file a contempt of court petition in the SC. By showing stubbornness, the government is committing contempt of court,” said Chaudhry in a post on X.
Two days earlier, on Tuesday, the SC had ordered that Imran be shifted to Shifa International Hospital for treatment for the next few days and directed the government to arrange weekly meetings between him and his family. In response, the government filed a review petition before the SC, calling its order “discriminatory in nature”.
Contempt petition against Govt soon
Chaudhry said he had gone to Adiala jail to obtain Imran’s signatures on the contempt petition and power of attorney documents. “We will file a contempt of court petition in any case,” he added.
On Thursday, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja claimed that the government had withdrawn its review petition against the SC order for shifting party founder Imran to Shifa International Hospital, demanding immediate implementation of the directive.
“The state has withdrawn its review petition from the SC after objections were placed on it by the SC filing branch. There is no excuse whatsoever for not complying with the SC order of August 18. Imran Khan must be transferred to Shifa International Hospital forthwith. Today is the day,” Raja said in a post on X.
A day earlier, the Federal government filed a review petition before the SC, calling its order directing the transfer of incarcerated Imran to Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital “discriminatory in nature”. However, the SC has returned the petition due to an objection from Registrar that the required paper books had not been completed along with the review plea.
Review petition doesn’t nullify original order
Sources said the review petition would be filed again after addressing the Registrar’s objections, adding that some amendments would also be made to the review petition before it was resubmitted to the SC.
As stated above, in its order on Tuesday, the court had asked that Imran be shifted to Shifa International Hospital for treatment for the next few days and directed the government to arrange weekly meetings between him and his family. The hearing came after a medical board report and a report by the Adiala Jail Superintendent submitted to the SC on Monday recommended more frequent meetings between Imran, his immediate family and spouse to help manage his blood pressure and anxiety.
A three-member Bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed was hearing cases concerning Imran’s access to his sisters and personal physicians, as well as his medical record. The court further ordered that Imran’s personal physician, Dr Faisal Sultan, be granted access to him and directed the formation of a medical board comprising an eye specialist, a general physician, and a cardiologist along with Dr Sultan.
Imran’s sister, Dr Uzma, will also be associated with the newly established medical board, according to the order. The SC directed that Imran’s family bear the cost of his treatment at the hospital. The court also instructed Imran’s family and lawyers not to share his medical report with the media, with Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan ordering that the report be kept completely confidential.
“We assure the court that the medical report will remain completely confidential,” Raja said. The court further directed that no political activity, media talks or press conferences be held outside the hospital.
“Do not engage in politics outside the hospital,” Justice Afghan said. “There are other patients in the hospital,” he added, stressing that other patients should not be affected. Raja and PTI Parliamentary Secretary Shahid Khattak assured the court that no political activity would take place outside the hospital. “Our political activities will remain completely separate,” Raja said.
Apex court order fails to provide relief
The court also directed that arrangements be made for Imran to have telephone conversations with his children, both his sons living in UK. The SC ordered that Imran’s medical reports not be used for political purposes. The court warned that the order could be withdrawn if its directives were violated, while allowing the government and other parties to approach the court if they believed the orders were not being implemented.
Advocate Asad Rahim Khan said the filing of a review petition does not “do anything to disturb the original order”. He also clarified that a review was not a routine next step following SC orders and judgments.
“There has been a mistaken impression over the past decade, exacerbated by erroneous verdicts by judges like Saqib Nisar and Qazi Faez Isa, that the review is the inevitable next step after orders and judgments of the SC; that it is a diet appeal of sorts. It is not,” he told Dawn.
“Review jurisdiction, as has been clarified for the better part of a century … is an extraordinary indulgence, in which cases are to be ‘reopened with very greatest hesitation and only in very exceptional circumstances’,” he said.
