ISLAMABAD, September 14: The Federal Constitutional Court on Monday observed that treatment of prisoners at private hospitals was against the jail manual while hearing petitions seeking medical facilities for other inmates similar to those provided to PTI founder Imran Khan.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan heard the petitions and issued a notice to Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan to assist the court. The hearing was later adjourned until Tuesday.
During the proceedings, Justice Aamer Farooq questioned why prisoners should be treated at private hospitals when medical care could be provided at government facilities such as the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) or Polyclinic Hospital.
Justice Farooq referred to Rule 197 of the jail manual, observing that the provision clearly states that the government is responsible for bearing a prisoner’s medical treatment expenses.
He said there was no ambiguity in Rule 197 and that any court order concerning the matter should be in accordance with the law.
“Why a private hospital? Why not a government hospital? Why can treatment not be provided at Polyclinic or PIMS?” Justice Farooq remarked.
Justice Ali Baqar Najafi also raised the issue of equal treatment of prisoners, observing that the jail manual was clear and there should be no discriminatory treatment among inmates.
He questioned the purpose of having a jail manual if its provisions were not followed, stressing that all prisoners should be treated equally.
During the hearing, a lawyer representing one of the prisoners told the court that his client had been taken to hospital eight times over the past two months for medical treatment.
The lawyer argued, however, that his client needed to be transferred to a private hospital for better treatment, adding that hospital reports supported the request.
During his arguments, the lawyer also referred to the Supreme Court case concerning PTI founder Imran Khan.
Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan questioned why the lawyer had not approached the Supreme Court or sought to become a party to that case if he wanted to rely on it.
The lawyer responded that the present matter had been initiated through a constitutional petition and that an appeal arising from a constitutional petition could be heard by the Constitutional Court.
Justice Najafi observed that the lawyer himself was relying on the jail manual and questioned the purpose of those rules if they were not to be implemented.
He further noted that, according to the lawyer’s own argument, there should be no discrimination between prisoners and a separate procedure could not be adopted for each individual.
Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan later arrived at the Islamabad High Court. The court subsequently adjourned the case concerning prisoners’ medical facilities until Tuesday.