Editorial
Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered the government to take convicted former Prime Minister Imran Khan to a private hospital in the capital for a medical examination while federal government is seeking a review of the order regarding Imran Khan’s transfer to Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital.
Same time, ruling PML-N through its second and third-tier parliamentarians is expressing fears that this decision of SC will have political consequences. SC also ordered prison officials to allow Khan weekly meetings with family members and telephone calls with his sons. Hours after the order, authorities allowed one of Khan’s sisters to visit him. Federal Law Minister believes that since former Prime Minister Imran Khan is convicted in cases of corruption, so he cannot enjoy special treatment of being hospitalized in a private hospital, but PML-N Law Minister forgot that former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif was sent to England for his treatment, who was also convicted in cases.
The government’s primary legal argument is that the Supreme Court’s smaller bench cannot issue such a specific directive on medical treatment. They argue that the power to decide on a prisoner’s medical care lies with the jail authorities and the executive branch, not the judiciary. They believe this sets a dangerous precedent for judicial overreach into the day-to-day administration of prisons. The government contends that this order grants Imran Khan “special treatment” that is not afforded to any other prisoner. They argue that the standard procedure for any prisoner’s health issue is to be examined by the jail’s medical officer, and if necessary, referred to a government hospital. They claim that the Supreme Court’s direct intervention bypasses this established protocol.
It looks that court orders have shaken the sitting government in Islamabad as well as in Punjab, therefore decided to contest SC’s decision about Imran Khan, who has already lost popularity, and his party had failed to mobilise the public against the government. After the decision of the government to go to a review petition, it is making Imran Khan important in the political arena because medical treatment of a former prime minister in a private hospital should not have been so significant for a strong government and ruling party that enjoys total majority in parliament. Political analysts believe that contesting SC decision is actually showing that PML-N government might be losing political grounds in public due to several reasons, including the perceivable failure of governance, handling of electricity/IPPs problem, shocking decision of changing fuel prices daily, providing extraordinary and special perks to higher bureaucracy and controversial distribution of higher civil awards among favourites (politicians as well as bureaucrats and even staff officers of ministers) and ballooning loans in the tenure of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (including his PDM tenure) are some of the reasons that provided material to public to criticise the government because poor people in Pakistan are touching poorest level while government favour IPPs, fuel companies and bureaucrats and nothing is being offered to public practically. Moreover, recent monsoon urban flash floods washed away several development projects in big cities of Punjab and public facing floods claim in some rural cum urban areas that government had failed to help them out of flood situation such as a situation in Ferozwala that is just 15 km away from downtown of Lahore and government successfully managed the media not to show floods around Lahore but failed to help people.
Government should understand that its perceivable panic over the court decision of Imran Khan’s treatment in a private hospital will show nothing just a political weakness and would support claims of opponents and independent media that the government is losing ground in public due to collapsed governance and extravaganza such as buying expensive SUVs for bureaucrats and aeroplane for the Chief Minister Punjab.
