Imran Khan's eye examination must be conducted before Feb 16, orders SC

• Eye examination team to be formed immediately.
• Govt says ready to provide access to specialist doctors.
• Supreme Court orders Imran's contact with sons. 

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan be given access to specialist eye doctors and ordered that a formal eye examination be conducted by a medical team before February 16.

The court also ordered that Imran be provided the facility to hold telephone conversations with his sons, Kasim Khan and Sulaiman Khan.

The development comes a day after PTI counsel, Salman Safdar, submitted before the Supreme Court a seven-page report regarding his visit to Adiala jail and meeting with the incarcerated former prime minister.

The court had appointed Safdar as amicus curiae (friend of the court), directing him to visit Adiala jail and submit a report on February 11.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan heard the case.

During the hearing, the chief justice observed that the issue of health was the most important and required judicial intervention, adding that the court wanted to know the government’s position on the matter of the PTI founder’s health.

The Supreme Court further directed that a team of doctors be constituted to carry out the eye examination.

According to the report read out in court, the PTI founder described the medical facilities being provided to him as "unsatisfactory" and had specifically sought access to specialist eye doctors.

The report further stated that he had requested access to expert ophthalmologists.

The court noted that the reports submitted by the "friend of the court", which it referred to Safdar, and the jail superintendent were identical.

Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan told the court that the government was ready to provide access to specialist eye doctors and maintained that providing healthcare facilities to prisoners was the responsibility of the state.

He added that if a prisoner was not satisfied, the state would take the necessary steps.

Meanwhile, CJP Afridi remarked that the PTI founder is currently in state custody and must be provided medical facilities on an equal basis with all other prisoners.

He clarified that the court would not order the provision of facilities that were more prominent or preferential than those given to other inmates and stressed that everyone must be treated equally.

The chief justice further observed that the facility of telephone calls with the PTI founder’s sons, Kasim Khan and Sulaiman Khan, was also an important issue and said the court was placing its trust in the government in this regard.

The chief justice also observed that the trial court had already passed its order and that the related appeals were pending before the high court. He added that the Supreme Court was reserving its order on the hearing in the original case.