The former Sindh information minister was hospitalised on Saturday evening after an accountability court allowed the superintendent of the Central Jail Karachi to shift him to a health facility for fresh tests. Sharjeel Memon has been moved into a newly renovated room in the special ward of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC). Memon has been incarcerated for the past several weeks after he was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau and then remanded by an accountability court. He has been complaining of backache and other health problems as soon as he was imprisoned. “Yes, Sharjeel Memon has been brought to the JPMC for medical tests and he has been admitted to the [special] ward on the recommendation of the medical board,” JPMC Executive Director Dr Seemin Jamali confirmed to The News. A medical board comprising senior radiologists, orthopaedics, cardiologists, neurosurgeons, physiotherapists and other doctors had examined Memon at the central prison on Thursday and recommended moving him to a tertiary-care health facility to better ascertain his condition. The accountability court said in its order that the chief medical officer’s report and the diagnosis of the (self-constituted) medical board showed that the accused was not suffering from any terminal disease that could not be treated at the prison hospital, directing the superintendent to manage his treatment inside the prison. On the other hand, members of the medical board that examined the under-trial prisoner said that apparently, there was nothing wrong with Memon’s health and his life was not in danger. “But he is complaining of backache and wants to be hospitalised for treatment. We have recommended taking him to any tertiary-care health facility for MRI and other scans to establish the severity of his complaint,” said a member. A source has claimed that even though the accountability court has directed Memon’s treatment inside the jail after his medical tests, the Sindh government has no intention of sending him back to prison. Earlier, The News had learnt that the medical board was initially reluctant on visiting the central prison to examine Memon, but due to intense pressure from the health department and the Chief Minister House, they were forced to comply. Led by Prof Tariq Mehmood, head of the JPMC’s radiology department, the medical board examined Memon in jail. The board said the former minister had been complaining of backache for the past couple of weeks and the prison authorities had called in physiotherapists and a neurosurgeon at least thrice. “Memon also showed the MRI reports and other scans he had undergone in Dubai and London, and prescriptions of doctors, but his condition is not acute,” said a board member. “Without investigation, which includes a fresh MRI, blood tests and other examinations, nothing can be said about his health and the possibility of his hospitalisation.” He said the home department had asked the health department to constitute a medical board to examine Memon, adding that the JPMC executive director was then approached for the purpose and to ascertain if he needed medical treatment at any tertiary-care facility. “Under-trial prisoners used to be brought here, as we have many other patients to attend to,” said another board member. “If we leave the hospital, many patients remain unattended, while dozens of surgeries are cancelled. But we were compelled to go to the central jail.” He argued that the incident had now opened the door for more such requests, as in future other prisoners could use their influence in the provincial and federal governments and other corridors of power to summon top consultants of the country to examine them in jail.
