ISLAMABAD
The Islamabad Bar Association, through Acting President Iram Javed and other officials, has addressed letters to the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court regarding the provision of adequate medical facilities to its members, Advocate Imaan Zainab Mazari and Advocate Hadi Ali Chatha, who are currently incarcerated in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, as well as the urgent fixing of their sentence suspension applications. The letters also reveal that they are both suffering from health conditions.
The letter has highlighted that Imaan Zainab Mazari is suffering from serious medical conditions requiring continuous and proper healthcare, treatment, and medical facilities, while it also reports that the present prison conditions are not conducive to managing her health needs. Her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chatha, remains detained under similar circumstances.
Expressing deep concern for the health and well-being of its members, the Bar Association through its letter emphasized that access to timely and proper medical care is a fundamental right guaranteed to every citizen under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, regardless of whether they are an under-trial prisoner or a convict. The letters urge the court to direct the relevant prison authorities and medical officers to immediately provide adequate, sufficient, and continuous medical facilities, treatment, and care according to established standards, and to schedule the applications for suspension of sentence at the earliest to ensure justice is served. The Association expressed full confidence that the apex courts, as custodians of fundamental rights and the rule of law, would take appropriate notice and issue the necessary directions.
In a conversation with Voicepk, Aimal Mandokhail, advocate for Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha in cases pending before the Islamabad lower courts and the Anti-Terrorism Court, said that proper health facilities are not being provided to his clients despite repeated requests to the Islamabad High Court. He noted that due to the lack of action, the Islamabad Bar Association was prompted to write to the Chief Justices of both the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court. He asserted that Imaan and Hadi have been framed in a false and baseless case, calling the sentence contrary to law, and noted that while they maintain faith in the judiciary, no progress has been made on their sentence suspension applications in either court.
Around 15 days ago, an application was filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha requesting that their appeals for sentence suspension be scheduled for hearing the following week; however, the Supreme Court has yet to fix the matter. The applications pointed out that the Supreme Court had previously directed the High Court to decide the matter within two weeks, and although the prosecution raised objections regarding the maintainability of the sentence suspension petitions, the court rejected those objections.
Despite this, the High Court issued notices to the parties on the suspension applications and adjourned the hearing indefinitely, failing to comply with the Supreme Court’s order while giving the option to file an urgent hearing application during the previous proceeding.
Earlier, during the hearing of the sentence suspension applications before Justice Azam Khan at the IHC, the counsel for the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) objected that the petitions were premature and should not be deemed maintainable, requesting the court to hear their miscellaneous application first to prevent it from becoming infructuous.
Faisal Siddiqui, the counsel for Imaan Mazari, informed the court that he was ready to present arguments on the miscellaneous application immediately or have both applications heard together. While Justice Azam Khan remarked that it would be better for the counsel to fully prepare for the sake of his clients’ rights, Faisal Siddiqui maintained that he was prepared to argue even if it meant waiving certain rights.
Subsequently, the court dismissed the NCCIA’s miscellaneous applications regarding the sentence suspension petitions and adjourned the proceedings indefinitely, which prompted Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha to approach the Supreme Court once again with a request for an expedited hearing.
