New Delhi: Pakistan’s government on Wednesday challenged a supreme court order directing jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to be moved from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad within two days for medical examination. The challenge came less than a day after the court intervened over concerns surrounding Khan’s health and prison access and ordered regular contact with his family.
Hours after the ruling, Khan met his wife Bushra Bibi and sister Noreen Niazi at Adiala Jail, their first meeting with him in around nine months, according to news reports. The meetings came after the supreme Court directed prison authorities to allow Khan weekly access to family members.
Government challenges hospital transfer
Pakistan’s law minister, Azam Nazeer Tarar, said the government would seek a review of the hospital transfer direction, arguing that a prisoner should ordinarily receive treatment inside prison or at a public hospital. The government subsequently filed its challenge with the supreme court.
In its petition, the government argued that transferring Khan to a private hospital despite a medical report that, it said, did not show a condition requiring immediate treatment could disrupt the criminal justice system and prompt other prisoners to seek similar relief.
The supreme court directed that Khan to be examined at Shifa International Hospital by a medical board comprising a cardiologist, a general medicine specialist, an eye specialist and his personal physician.
The court also ordered prison authorities to facilitate telephone contact with Khan’s two sons in London twice a week and allow weekly family meetings.
Family access restored
Noreen Niazi met Khan for about 15 minutes in a jail conference room and discussed his health and other issues, Khan’s meeting with Bushra Bibi lasted around 30 to 35 minutes, according to Express Tribune.
The court intervention followed months of complaints from Khan’s family, lawyers and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) over restrictions on visits and access to doctors of his choice. AP reported that visitor access had earlier been restricted following intelligence about a possible security threat to the prison.
Health claims surrounding Khan have remained contested. As RNA Media reported earlier, a medical report submitted in February said Khan had been left with about 15 per cent vision in his right eye after his lawyers raised concerns over severe vision loss. Jail authorities later told the supreme court that his eyesight had improved significantly following treatment.
The supreme court did not make its own medical finding on Khan’s condition, instead directing that he be examined by a specialist medical board.
Another institutional fault line
Khan, 73, has been imprisoned since August 2023 and continues to face several legal proceedings. Reuters reported that all but one of his convictions have been suspended, (overturned), with appeals pending. He denies wrongdoing and has repeatedly described the cases against him as politically motivated.
The dispute over his treatment now adds another point of friction between Pakistan’s judiciary and executive. PTI has demanded immediate implementation of the supreme court order, while the government maintains that allowing treatment at a private hospital on these grounds could create a precedent extending beyond Khan’s case.
The confrontation also carries wider political significance because Khan retains a substantial support base. PTI candidates, forced to contest as independents in the 2024 election, won the largest number of seats but fell short of the majority needed to form a government.