Islamabad: Dr Uzma Khan, sister of Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) founder and former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, approached the Supreme Court (SC) on August 22, Saturday seeking to initiate contempt proceedings for failing to implement August 18 order issued by it. She has said that the government has committed contempt of the apex court by refusing to shift the patient (her brother) to private Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad.
The petition, moved by Advocate Uzair Karamat Bhandari, also requested the court to depute an officer of the court or appoint a local commission to implement its order. Bhandari argued this was necessary to ensure that Imran was immediately shifted to Shifa International Hospital for his medical examination in accordance with the August 18 (Tuesday) order.
PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja reached the court, along with Imran’s sister Uzma Khan and lawyer Uzair Bhandari, according to a Dawn report.
The petition sought proceedings over the violation of the apex court order, including issuance of show-cause notices to the respondents, contemnors and orders for their personal appearance. The petition asked the court to declare the respondents guilty of contempt of court and punish them in accordance with law.
PM Shehbaz Sharif, Law Minister named
Islamabad Chief Commissioner, (retired) Lieutenant Sohail Ashraf, Interior Secretary Ahmed Raza Sarwar, Punjab Inspector General Prisons Mian Salik Jalal, Adiala Jail Superintendent Sajid Baig, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar were named as respondents in the petition.
The plea urged the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the respondents for their “willful, deliberate and contumacious disobedience and violation” of the August 18 order. The petition contended that court was being approached in light of the “non-compliance and brazen violations” by the respondents of the SC’s orders.
“It is clear from the respondents’ own admissions that the court directions contained in August 18 order were violated,” it said.
Willful disobedience of apex court order
“The directions contained in the Aug 18 orders were clear, unambiguous, unequivocal and fully capable of implementation,” the petition said, adding they were issued in the presence of the Islamabad Advocate General and the Additional Attorney General of Pakistan.
“No portion thereof requires any further interpretation, clarification or modification”, the petition argued. It said that the respondents, being the officials responsible for putting the directions into effect, were under an absolute legal obligation to comply with the order “in letter and spirit”.
The government had earlier filed a review petition against August 18 order arguing that transferring a convicted prisoner to a private hospital is contrary to the Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978. It had argued in its review petition that there exist no provision for admitting prisoners to private hospitals.
Prima facie, that argument appears odd and self defeating as Mian Nawaz Sharif, the elder brother of PM Shehbaz Sharif, was treated at a private hospital when he was lodged in the same Adiala jail where Imran Khan is incarcerated these days. During his incarceration, Mian Nawaz Sharif first got treated in a private hospital and then flew to London in 2018, returning only five years later!
Opposition alliance takes shape
Meanwhile, opposition parties have agreed to join hands in Parliament against the PML-N government of PM Shehbaz Sharif. On Friday, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the alliance would seek to play a more effective role. This was being done amid worsening law and order, growing challenges to the government’s writ and “a lack of preparedness to deal with the country’s crises”, he explained.
The announcement came after a meeting of opposition leaders at Fazlur Rehman’s residence in Islamabad. National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai warned that the opposition would approach international courts if it was “forced” to do so, while Raja said the opposition was currently uniting inside Parliament and that the “next phase” would see the alliance take its politics to the streets.
