Imran Khan’s sister has stated that she met with the former Pakistan Prime Minister at Adiala Jail and Imran Khan is alive but he is undergoing extreme ill-treatment in custody. She said that he was physically stable but visibly upset and very upset, claiming that the conditions he is being held in were a form of mental and physical torture.
The history of Adiala Jail dates back to nearly a hundred and fifty years. The jail that was later to become Adiala was initially the district jail of Rawalpindi but by the expansion of the city changed its location four times.
The jail was officially established in 1882 on the grounds between what is Jinnah Park and Judicial Complex; the facility remained there more than a hundred years.
Among prisoners were most of the freedom fighters carried throughout British India (Lahore, Delhi, Dhaka, Chittagong and others). They are buried in a nearby deserted cemetery.
One of the detainees of historic nature was Allama Mashriqi, one of the prominent political figures of the day.
The former jail was also slaughtered in 1979 after the execution of the former prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, which, in its turn, remains one of the most debatable political moments in the history of Pakistan. The new jail was located just outside the village of Adiala (approximately 13 km to the district courts of Rawalpindi).
The contemporary Adiala Jail was finished in 1986 on a vast land of about 100 acres.
Adiala Jail: Design and Intended Capacity and Reality
The prison was initially designed with a population of about 1,9002,000 inmates but was expanded in stages. It was reportedly increased to 2,700 by first capacity expansions then 3,500 by second capacity expansions.
Yet, recently the number of inmates has surpassed the design capacity several times over: as of recent years Adiala Jail already houses over 6,000 prisoners – a number that occasionally varies by hundreds and makes it one of the most overcrowded prisons in Pakistan.
There are severe complaints about the overcrowding: inmates, both convicts and undertrials, have reported cramped and poorly ventilated barracks, unhygienic conditions, poor food and absence of basic amenities.
The effects became evident in 2025, when a big health scandal was exposed: an HIV-positive outbreak was reported in Adiala Jail, and at least 148 prisoners were infected, which is the largest in any jail in Punjab.
This highlights institutional disregard to health and hygiene in the institution.
Famous Prisoners and Political Detainees
For decades, Adiala Jail has tried to accommodate a large variety of high-profile and, in many cases, politically important inmates: both leaders of the national level and terrorists, militants, and criminals.
Some notable examples:
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: Former PM and founder of PPP- had been imprisoned in the first form of the jail, before his hanging in 1979.
Mumtaz Qadri: It was the police commando who assassinated the Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer in 2011, imprisoned in Adiala then executed there in 2016.
Several political leaders of high profile, ex-prime ministers and other leaders have been thrown behind bars or at least detained here – usually during political unrest or corruption cases.
In later years, the previous prime minister Imran Khan has been imprisoned since 2023 in Adiala Jail.
The jail is also home to terrorists, convicted militants, criminals, foreigners and even death-row-inmates in addition to the political inmates turning it into a de facto high security jail in Pakistan.
Political Tensions, Scandals and Human Rights Issues
The name Adiala Jail is so much connected with political history and scandals in Pakistan. According to reports, the administration of this prison has long been fighting against the political interference and even has given in to it. Powerful prisoners have also been accused of being treated with privileges whereas the undertrial inmates are usually subjected to inhumane conditions.
The situation is deplorable within the conditions: overcrowding, uncleanliness, lack of medical attention, and abject neglect have been reported numerous times. Even the most fundamental rights of the prisoners such as good sleeping facilities, a segregation between the convicted and the under trial prisoners and even good hygiene is often not taken care of.
In a further scandal of the international spotlight in 2025, the jail was named as a plague zone by the media; and reports indicated that the facility was spreading the HIV due to unsafe practices, overcrowding and lack of healthcare facilities.
Still more recently, in March 2024, police arrested three suspected terrorists, claimedly Afghan natives, outside the jail grounds with explosives and a roadmap to the jail. The episode revealed the possible security shortcomings of the plant and generated concern that there could be more serious attempts to breach it.
Adiala Jail has several times been pointed out by activists and human-rights observers as a prime case of institutional rot, in which imprisonment as a form of punishment borders on the possibility of abuse, neglect and human-rights abuse.
Why is Adiala Jail relevant today?
Due to its extensive history, high-profile prisoners and recurrent scandals, Adiala Jail is the focal point when it comes to penal reform, political justice and human rights in the context of Pakistan.
It is the primary prison facility in the country where political prisoners are confined, including former heads of state. Its congestion and poor conditions point to the failure of the Pakistani prison system.
Its recurrent scandals such as medical outbreaks to security lapses, keep it in check by the national and international levels.
Housing prominent figures such as Imran Khan as a prisoner, any news that comes out of the Adiala receives a lot of media coverage not only of events surrounding the legal process, but the greater meaning it conveys in the Pakistani political and judicial system.
In Progress: A Symbol of Power, Conflict and Institutional Decay
In early 2025, an HIV-positive individual survey showed that 148 prisoners were HIV-positive, which is the highest in the prisons of Punjab. The epidemic brought into the limelight the hazardous crowding, lack of hygiene, and structural negligence. The scandal only made the impression of Adiala as a crumbling, overburdened institution in urgent need of reform.
Adiala Jail is not only a prison today, but also a representation of the political divisions, judicial scandals and human rights issues in Pakistan.
Home to ex-prime ministers, terrorist suspects, political scandals, and epidemics, the jail reflects the Pakistani battle against good governance, justice and authority.
