LAHORE - Justice M Khalid Mehmood Khan of the Lahore High Court on Friday sought detailed report from the Punjab government till August 5 on a petition against substandard treatment facilities to prisoners in the jails of Punjab whose majority is suffering from fatal diseases. Earlier on Friday, the superintendent Central Jail Lahore and its medial officer appeared before the court for submitting reply on the petition of Muhammad Azhar Siddique. Azhar Siddique advocate submitted the facilities of medical tests to the prisoners were almost non-existent in jails and similarly operation theatres and Trauma centres were also not available to handle medical emergencies in the jails. He contended it is right of every citizen to get medical facilities under articles 38, 37, 25, and 9 of the Constitution. He stated according to the article 9 the prisoners are also entitled to get standard medical treatment in the jails. He said in Kot Lakhpat Jail and Central Jail of the City, prisoners were being given spurious medicines. In the report the jail superintendent stated that an inmate, Asghar Ali, was suffering from hepatitis-C. His tests had been conducted but detailed reports are yet awaited and his treatment will be started as soon reports are received. The superintendent also claimed that all the prisoners were being provided medicines free of cost while all laboratory tests were being conducted in the jails without taking any fee from the patients. Specialist doctors visit the jail after every 15 days while for operation or surgery inmates are taken to district head quarter hospitals, he further submitted. He said in jail laboratory all medical test facilities including X-Rays, ECG, and ultrasound were available for the inmates and the patients of Hepatitis, TB, Aids and drug addicts get free treatment. However, the medial officer present in the court exposed the reliability of the report of the jail superintendent when he admitted during the proceedings that there were over 500 hepatitis patients in the jail. Meanwhile, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhary issued notice to the Punjab government on another petition against overcrowding of prisoners in Punjabs jails and lack of facilities for the inmates. This petition was filed by Rida Qazi through Saeed Muazzam Ali advocate submitting that 45,00 prisoners were holed up in District Jail Lahore (camp jail), which had capacity of housing 1,050 prisoners only. The petitioner contended many prisoners were lying in the jail for years only because they could not arrange surety for their release. Muazzam Ali said owing to overcrowding the prisoners were catching infectious and fatal diseases.