Staff Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has directed authorities to transfer jailed former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for a comprehensive medical examination and treatment.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed, comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, issued the directions while hearing petitions concerning Khan’s medical treatment and access to his family and doctors.
The court ordered that Khan be shifted from Adiala Jail under tight security and that a medical board be constituted to assess his condition. Authorities were also directed to ensure that law and order is not disrupted outside the hospital.
The Supreme Court further ordered the authorities to submit Khan’s complete medical record before the next hearing. The bench questioned why the court had been provided only with a summary of his medical reports.
During the proceedings, the judges also raised questions about Khan’s reported cardiac and other health concerns and asked whether the recommended medical procedures, including angiography, could be carried out while he remained in jail.
The court also sought detailed records of Khan’s meetings with his sisters and other family members over the past three years, as well as records of his telephone conversations with his children. According to the government’s lawyer, Khan’s sisters had met him 48 times during the past three years.
The bench stressed that access to family members was a fundamental right and directed authorities to comply with relevant court orders concerning family meetings.
The court also directed that details of Khan’s pending and concluded criminal cases be submitted, including the number of cases in which he is an under-trial prisoner, the cases in which he has been convicted, and those in which his sentences have been suspended.
Khan, 73, has remained in prison since August 2023 following convictions that he and his party have described as politically motivated. Several of his legal cases remain pending, while some convictions have been suspended or overturned.
The Supreme Court adjourned the proceedings until after the summer recess and summoned Adiala Jail officials at the next hearing.
The order comes amid continuing debate over Khan’s health. A recent report submitted by Adiala Jail authorities said that his previously affected eye had shown significant improvement and that his vision had returned to “almost normal” following specialist treatment.