Govt responsible to provide medical treatment to prisoners: IHC.

ISLAMABAD -- Providing medical treatment to jail inmates is responsibility of the government, Chief Justice Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Athar Minallah remarked while hearing a petition of Adiala Jail prisoner for treatment on Saturday.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah hearing a petition observed,' The state has lesser responsibility when a person is free, but when a person is imprisoned the state have maximum responsibility to extend medical treatment without any delay.'

A death-row convict, Khadim Hussain had written a letter to IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah who had converted it into a constitutional petition and sought a reply in this regard from the authorities concerned.

A representative of the Ministry of Human Rights appeared in the court hearing on Saturday. 'Your representatives would be monitoring human rights issues (in jails),' chief justice addressing ministry's official said.

The jail administration has been asked for detailed medical checkup of the prisoners, the official replied.

'It is responsibility of the state if a person is in custody of the state,' the bench remarked. 'A prisoner remains totally dependent on the state.'

'If a prisoner dies do you conduct an inquiry,' the bench asked the official. 'Yes, an inquiry conducted when someone dies in prison,' the official replied.

'If any inquiry...