SHC orders continuous monitoring of Adiala jail’s security

The Sindh High Court on Thursday disposed of a petition seeking protection for the life of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan, directing the federal government to take all necessary steps to secure the lives of all prisoners in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, including that of former prime minister Imran Khan, whose life is reportedly under serious threat.

The direction came on a petition seeking protection of Khan’s life. The ministry of interior filed comments on the petition, submitting that it had been learnt from credible sources that hostile intelligence agencies and terrorist outfits had been planning to exploit political polarization in Pakistan to their advantage.

The comments of the interior ministry stated that tentacles of these elements had been mobilized and tasked to target important premises/personalities in Rawalpindi. An official the ministry of interior said it had also been learnt that terrorists had identified the Adiala prison, key military installations and police lines in Rawalpindi as primary targets.

The court was informed that in view of the sensitivity of the matter, directions had been issued to respective provincial authorities for making foolproof security arrangements for these likely targets to avert the possibility of any untoward incident.

The interior ministry said that every citizen has the right to safety and security as enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan. It was submitted that security arrangements were being made by the respective provincial governments in accordance with the threat level.

A high court division bench, headed by Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, after taking the comments of the ministry of interior on record, observed that the federal government must continuously monitor the security arrangements at Adiala prison, and if necessary the relevant authorities should increase security arrangements in and outside the prison.

The court observed that the federal government has assured security arrangements and directions have been issued to the provincial authorities for making foolproof security arrangements for these likely targets and avert the possibility of any untoward incident.

It further observed that the petitioner could approach the relevant forum if he had further security concerns. The court took the ministry of interior’s statement on record that assured it that security arrangements were being made by the respective provincial governments in accordance with the threat level. It then disposed of the petition.

Petitioner Abdul Wahab Baloch, who is the PTI’s provincial lawyers wing president, submitted that the PTI founder was implicated in several false cases and now he was incarcerated in the Adiala prison.

He said jail authorities had banned meetings of Khan due to various types of security threats to the prison as some anti-state terrorist groups supported by the enemies of Pakistan had planned to conduct targeted attacks.

He submitted that the prevailing environment raised serious concern over the safety and security of the PTI founder, who was also a former prime minister. He said former prime ministers Liaquat Ali Khan and Benazir Bhutto were assassinated in the past and it was therefore necessary that the PTI founder be provided foolproof security in the Adiala jail. The court was requested to direct the interior ministry to ensure safety and security of the PTI founder and take all measures, including a surveillance mechanism, to neutralise the security threat to him.