A top court in Pakistan on Thursday reserved its verdict on the petition filed by former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi requesting her transfer to the high-security Adiala Jail, where her husband is incarcerated.
The 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Khan has been lodged at Adiala Jail at Rawalpindi after conviction in multiple cases while Bushra Bibi, 49, is currently jailed at Bani Gala -- Khan's home in Islamabad – which was turned into a sub-jail since the couple was sentenced in the ‘un-Islamic nikah’ case in February.
After hearing the arguments from both sides, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) reserved the verdict in the petition requesting Bushra Bibi’s transfer from the Bani Gala sub-jail to the Adiala jail, The News International said.
Former first lady’s lawyer Usman Gul said the process of declaring the residence as a sub-jail was completed within a few hours.
The court said that the Adiala Jail Superintendent had informed that they could not accommodate Bushra Bibi as the jail was already overcrowded. “Apparently, it was already decided that she had to be transferred to Bani Gala,” it added.
Justice Aurangzeb posed an array of questions on declaring Bani Gala a sub-jail, asking the state counsel if its notification was prepared in a minute, The News International said further quoting the proceedings.
“Don’t you feel it was already decided that Bushra Bibi had to be transferred (home)? How many women have been brought to Adiala jail, after sending Bushra Bibi home?” he inquired.
The IHC judge questioned if the 141 women brought to the jail after that had lesser rights. “Why don’t you send the other women home as well?” he asked.
Responding to the judge, the government’s lawyer said Bushra was transferred to Bani Gala due to a threat to her in jail.
Justice Aurangzeb said he would be overjoyed if he was “willingly” confined to his house and questioned how a prisoner’s property could be made a sub-jail without their consent.
On February 6, Bushra Bibi had challenged the authorities' move to imprison her at the residence to serve the 14-year sentence.
In the petition, Khan's wife maintained that like other political workers of the party, she was ready and willing to serve her sentence in the “ordinary jail premises at Adiala Jail, rather than the declared sub-jail at her residence.”
Moreover, the former first lady said she felt “unsafe” being confined alone in the premises of the sub-jail due to the potential security issues.
