Al-Qadir Trust case hearing: Adiala jail authorities remove wooden walls in courtroom

RAWALPINDI: Adiala jail authorities on Friday removed wooden walls erected to restrict media access to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan and his wife during the hearing of Al-Qadir Trust case following the directions of the Accountability Court.

Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana, while hearing the £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) scam commonly known as the Al-Qadir Trust case, ordered Adiala jail authorities to immediately remove the wooden walls in the Adiala jail courtroom.

Until the wall has not been removed the hearing will not proceed further, the judge further remarked.

At the start of the hearing, Khan came to the rostrum and told the judge that authorities had set up additional walls in the courtroom.

This is not an environment like an open court, he said.

The judge told Khan to first tell us whether a medical check up of Bushra Bibi had been carried out or not.

Dr Asim Yousaf had advised conducting medical tests on his wife from Shifa International Hospital but jail authorities are insisting on conducting the test from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS, he told the court.

The judge said that on humanitarian grounds, the court is issuing an order for conducting a medical test of Bushra Bibi from a private hospital.

Khan further alleged that toilet cleaner was mixed in his wife's food.

The health condition of his wife is deteriorating day by day, he said.

The court after issuing an order for the removal of an additional wall from the courtroom took an hour’s break.

The jail authorities removed some additional walls from the courtroom during the break.

The PTI lawyer filed an application regarding difficulties faced by the media before the court after it resumed hearings following the break.

The judge asked media persons and Khan to come to the rostrum.

The judge asked media persons about the difficulties they faced during the hearing. Media persons informed the court that they were facing problems during the coverage of the hearing.

The judge asked jail authorities to take measures to solve the problems of media persons.

The judge asked Khan not to address the press conference during the hearing. Khan told the court that he talked to media persons as he wanted to explain any false statement attributed to him outside the jail.

The judge asked Khan that taking care of court decorum is mandatory, therefore, talk to media persons after the hearing.

Khan informed the court that jail authorities direct media persons to leave the courtroom after the hearing. The court allowed Khan to talk to media persons for 10 minutes after the hearing.

The court also approved Khan and his wife's plea seeking to conduct a medical check-up from a private hospital.

According to the written order as per frequent verbal as well as written requests made by the defence side for medical check-ups, necessary medical tests and medical treatment of Bushra Bibi accused, the jail administration was directed accordingly to the same effect but it could not comply with the court orders for one reason or the other.

It says that there is a controversy between the parties regarding the observance of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for medical treatment of jail inmates. Be that as it may, Superintendent Central Jail, Rawalpindi is directed to get Bushra Bibi medically checked up from Al-Shifa Hospital Islamabad immediately till April 22under the supervision of Dr Asim Yousaf from Shaukat Khanum Hospital and doctors from Central Jail, Rawalpindi, as purportedly she is suffering from serious stomach disorder.

The order further says that Imran Khan also wants to get himself medically checked up under the supervision of the same Dr Asim Yousaf. The Superintendent Central Jail, Rawalpindi is directed to get him also medically checked up accordingly under the supervision of the said Dr Asim Yousaf and the doctors from the jail. The superintendent jail is directed to submit a compliance report to the same effect prior to the next hearing to be held on April 23.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024