Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered authorities on Tuesday to transfer jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan from prison to a private hospital in Islamabad, after his legal team raised alarm over his deteriorating health.
A three-member bench led by Justice Shahid Waheed directed that Khan be moved to Shifa International Hospital within 48 hours and remain there until his next hearing on September 16, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said. The court also ordered weekly meetings between Khan and his family and the formation of a medical board that includes his personal physician and his sister, Uzma Khan.
Justice Waheed said the bench was issuing the order out of concern for the prisoner’s health and safety, citing the constitutional right to life and access to medical care, according to Pakistani media. The ruling followed a report submitted a day earlier by the superintendent of Adiala Jail, where Khan has been held since August 2023, detailing findings from an August 1 medical examination that recorded uncontrolled and fluctuating blood pressure, palpitations, headaches and restlessness.
Former President Arif Alvi said on social media that he had reviewed Khan’s medical reports with several specialists and described the results as alarming, citing anxiety, elevated blood pressure and signs of sleeplessness. Khan, 73, has previously said his symptoms were linked in part to restricted access to his wife, family and associates.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, whose province is governed by Khan’s party, said authorities should allow Khan’s treatment to proceed under the supervision of his personal doctors and in the presence of his family. Speaking outside the Supreme Court, Afridi said public frustration over Khan’s continued detention was reaching a point where even Khan’s own calls for calm might not be enough to contain it, warning of a “spark of revolution” among young Pakistanis.
The order marks the latest court intervention in Khan’s health case; a previous ruling in February had directed a medical board to examine his eyesight after reports of vision loss.
