The petition seeks a declaration that their solitary confinement and deprivation of liberty is illegal, unconstitutional
ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday removed the registrar’s office’s objections to petitions filed on behalf of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi against their alleged solitary confinement and ordered that the cases be assigned regular numbers.
Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro heard the petitions filed by Imran’s sister Aleema Khan on his behalf and by Mubashra Khawar Maneka on behalf of Bushra Bibi. Barrister Salman Safdar and PTI General Secretary Salman Akram Raja appeared before the court.
Aleema had filed a writ before the IHC seeking a declaration that the prolonged solitary confinement and incommunicado detention of her brother in Adiala prison is illegal, unconstitutional and without legal authority.
During the hearing, Safdar claimed that “the Registrar’s office has raised the objection that the petitioners are not the aggrieved parties,” adding that “Aleema is the PTI founder’s sister and Mubashra is Bushra Bibi’s daughter.”
Safdar said the issue of alleged solitary confinement had earlier been raised before the chief justice on appeal. “The Supreme Court said we should approach the appropriate forum,” he said.
Citing earlier case law, Safdar Begum cited the Shamim Afridi case and said she had challenged her jailed husband’s solitary confinement.
Judge Soomro asked counsel to identify the relevant section of the judgment which confirmed that the petitioner had been the prisoner’s wife. Safdar then read the relevant part of the order to the court.
The lawyer said he had not been allowed to meet Bushra Bibi since December, while he had met Imran only twice as per orders issued by the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Chief Justice of the IHC.
“They do not have a television and are not provided with newspapers. Solitary confinement is the harshest form of punishment,” Safdar argued.
“There is no mention of solitary confinement anywhere in the judgment against us,” he added, claiming that “even exceptional prisoners can only be kept in solitary confinement for 14 days.”
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Safdar further alleged that “both husband and wife are being subjected to inhumane treatment” and claimed that they had been kept in solitary confinement for the past seven months without being allowed to meet anyone.
He also referred to an earlier petition involving Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, saying, “If no family member can approach the court, who can?”
During the proceedings, Justice Soomro sought a copy of the order in which the Chief Justice had allegedly directed the petitioners to approach the appropriate forum. “We do not have a copy of the order. We are facing difficulties even in getting certified copies,” Safdar replied.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor Rafi Maqsood disputed the allegations and told the court that after meeting Imran, Safdar had never informed the bench that his client was being kept in solitary confinement. “He only told the court that he had been instructed to argue for stay of sentence applications and not to appeal,” the prosecutor said.
Safdar replied that a miscellaneous application raising the issue had already been filed in the pending appeals. The prosecutor argued that the miscellaneous application had already been rejected, while Safdar maintained that it had not.
The NAB prosecutor further argued that the case could now be taken to the Supreme Court and could not be pursued through a constitutional petition under Article 199.
The petition, filed under Article 199 of the Constitution through a legal team led by Safdar and lawyer Salman Akram Raja, names the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of Adiala Jail, Punjab Inspector General of Prisons, NAB Chairman, FIA Director General, PIMS Chief Medical Officer and the state as respondents.
The petition claimed that no court awarded solitary confinement to the 74-year-old former prime minister in either the Al-Qadir Trust case or the Toshakhana-II case, but jail authorities have allegedly kept him in solitary confinement for nearly 22 hours a day for the past six months without any legal sanction.
Read more: Imran’s ‘solitary prison’ challenged
Safdar requested the court to summon copies of the miscellaneous application and any related order from the earlier case, maintaining that no order had been passed by the Chief Justice’s bench on the issue of solitary confinement.
After hearing the arguments, the court overruled the Land Registry’s objections, ordered that the petitions be assigned regular numbers, and ruled that the issue of maintainability would be decided on the judicial side.
On Safdar’s request, the court adjourned further hearing till Tuesday.
Imran and Bushra Bibi remain incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. They were sentenced on 20 December 2025 to 17 years in prison in the Toshakhana-II case, which relates to allegations that the couple illegally kept a Bulgari jewelery set gifted by the Saudi crown prince during an official visit to Saudi Arabia.
In January last year, an accountability court in Islamabad sentenced Imran to 14 years and Bushra Bibi to seven years in prison in the reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The IHC is currently considering appeals seeking a stay of these sentences.
