Pakistan challenges top court order to move Imran Khan to private hospital

Islamabad, Pakistan – The Pakistani government has challenged a Supreme Court order to move jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan to a private hospital for medical treatment.

The office of the chief commissioner in capital Islamabad filed a review petition on Wednesday, a day after the top court ordered prison authorities to move Khan from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail to Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital within two days.

The Supreme Court directed the authorities to form a medical board of five specialists and allow Khan’s sister, Uzma Khan, and his personal physician, Faisal Sultan, to take part in his treatment.

The court also allowed Khan weekly family meetings and phone calls twice a week with his two sons who live in London, as it barred Khan’s family, political party and lawyers from discussing his health publicly until the case is heard again on September 16.

But the government’s petition argued that the court skipped legal procedures by ordering Khan’s transfer without first hearing from the prison authorities, and warned that other prisoners could demand similar treatment.

Khan, 73, has been in jail since August 2023 after his conviction in several cases he and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party say were politically motivated. Over the past year, concerns over his health, particularly the vision in his right eye , have driven repeated appeals to the courts by his family and the party.

After the court’s order, Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, met him with their two children at Adiala jail. Khan’s other sister, Noreen Niazi, also briefly met him in her first visit in nine months.

The government’s review petition followed a video statement on Tuesday night by federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, who said the government wanted Khan examined at a public hospital.