Staff Reporter
Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s counsel has approached the Punjab home secretary asking him to comply with a court order to shift his client to a hospital for medical tests.
Barrister Zafarullah, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior vice president’s lawyer, wrote in his letter to the home secretary that on October 28, he had informed the accountability court in Islamabad that jail authorities were not having Abbasi’s medical tests conducted.
The court had directed the jail authorities to comply with instructions of the medical board that examined Abbasi. However, the Adiala Jail superintendent told the court that the home department needed to be approached to grant permission to shift an under-trial prisoner to a hospital.
Abbasi’s counsel requested the home secretary to comply with the accountability court’s directives and immediately order his client’s transfer to a hospital to prevent further deterioration of his health.
Earlier, a medical board, comprising doctors from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), examined Abbasi on October 8 and made several recommendations.
They included the provision of a hygienic environment, cooling in the form of inverter air-conditioning, a separate washroom and home-cooked meal.
