Pakistan ex-PM Imran’s wife moved to Adiala Jail from Banigala residence on her request: Lawyer

Tariq Butt, Correspondent / Reuters 

in Pakistan granted a request on Wednesday by the wife of former prime minister Imran Khan to be moved to Adiala Jail, her lawyer said, instead of the house arrest ordered by the government.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) approved the request of Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi seeking her transfer from their Banigala residence — which had been declared a sub-jail — to Adiala Jail Rawalpindi where her husband is currently incarcerated.

Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb pronounced the verdict, which had been reserved last week.

In her petition to the IHC, Bushra Bibi had accused authorities of violating her privacy and serving contaminated food in her home cell, which she and her lawyers said was dominated by men, a charge the prison staff has denied.
Bushra says she has been detained in one room at Imran Khan's hilltop mansion in Islamabad since the couple's January conviction on charges of illegally selling state gifts.
Through her lawyers Bushra had asked to be shifted to Adiala Jail, which authorities complied with shortly after the court issued the order, her party and a local administration official Afzaal Ahmad said.
The court ordered authorities to shift her to Adiala Jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where Imran Khan, 70, is serving his 14-year sentence, his party said in a statement.

The party said Bushra's shift to jail will answer critics that her stay at home instead of prison was part of some deal to seek concessions from the government.

The former first lady was taken into custody on Jan.31 after an Islamabad accountability court sentenced her and Imran to 14 years in jail in the Toshakhana reference.

While the IHC had on April 1 suspended their sentences in the Toshakhana reference, she remains in custody in the Iddat case. Imran Khan is also jailed in other cases.

Following the Toshakhana verdict, Bushra Bibi had arrived at Adiala Jail, where a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) team was already present, to surrender to the authorities. Subsequently, she was taken into custody by the NAB.

However, she was moved to her Banigala home after it was declared a sub-jail in a late-night notification. Her shifting to the residence has been under discussion for months as she and her husband denied submitting any application to declare the residence a sub-jail.

Almost a week after her arrest, Bushra Bibi had challenged the residence’s status as a sub-jail, urging the IHC to let her complete her 14-year sentence in Adiala Jail.

Later, the Adiala Jail administration had opposed moving her back to the prison, claiming that overcrowding posed security threats for the former first lady.

In March, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb had asked if the authorities sought permission from Imran Khan before converting his Banigala residence into a sub-jail.