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Pakistan Government Challenges Supreme Court Order on Imran Khan Hospital Transfer — AI-generated representative image: A high-security prison facility in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, amid a legal dispute over a detainee's hospital transfer.

Editorial Team

Review petition argues the court bypassed prison procedures, while PTI leaders insist the ruling remains binding until stayed.

The Pakistani government has filed a review petition challenging a Supreme Court order that directed authorities to move jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan from Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail to a private hospital in Islamabad for medical treatment.

The petition was submitted on Wednesday by the office of the chief commissioner in Islamabad, one day after the top court gave prison authorities two days to transfer the 73-year-old former premier to Shifa International Hospital.

The legal standoff deepens an ongoing dispute over the health and detention conditions of Khan, who has been imprisoned since August 2023. His family and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party have repeatedly raised concerns about his wellbeing, particularly the vision in his right eye, making the court's ruling a focal point in the country's political tensions.

Supreme Court Directives and Government Response

The Supreme Court ordered the formation of a medical board comprising five specialists and permitted Khan's sister, Uzma Khan, and his personal physician, Faisal Sultan, to participate 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.

Additionally, the court barred Khan's family, political party and lawyers from discussing his health publicly until the case is heard again on September 16.

The government's review petition argues that the court skipped legal procedures by ordering the transfer without first hearing from prison authorities, and warned that other prisoners could demand similar treatment.

Background of the Detention and Health Concerns

Khan, 73, has been imprisoned since August 2023 following his conviction in several cases that he and his PTI party maintain were politically motivated. Over the past year, concerns about his health, particularly his right eye's vision, have driven repeated appeals to the courts by his family and the party.

Following the court's order, Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, met him at Adiala jail along with their two children. His other sister, Noreen Niazi, also briefly met him in what was her first visit in nine months.

Conflicting Government Statements

Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said in a video statement on Tuesday night that the government wanted Khan examined at a public hospital. "This order does not fall within the legal parameters governing the facilities that can be provided to a convicted person in jail," he said, arguing that prison rules require a medical board, not a court, to decide between jail and hospital treatment.

However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhary told the Senate that the government would implement the court order, saying Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had "no authority to go against judicial decisions." Information Minister Attaullah Tarar separately accused PTI of having politicised the health of its rivals in the past, calling the matter "a legal matter" in which "there should be no politics."

What Happens Next

Senior PTI leader Sheikh Waqas Akram said a review petition does not suspend Tuesday's court order. "Until the court explicitly stays its own decision, Imran Khan must be moved to the hospital as directed," he said, warning that failing to implement it "only deepens hatred and makes reconciliation harder."

PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari said that if the review petition is rejected, Khan would have to be shifted to a private hospital immediately, while acceptance would lead the party to pursue the matter legally. The case is scheduled to be heard again on September 16.

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Pakistan Government Challenges Supreme Court Order on Imran Khan Hospital Transfer

Supreme Court Directives and Government Response

Background of the Detention and Health Concerns

Conflicting Government Statements

What Happens Next

Iran Refuses to Reopen Strait of Hormuz Until US Ends War and Blockade

Mecca Joint Defence Agreement: Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan Forge Military Alliance

Israeli Strikes Kill 10 Palestinians in Gaza City and Nuseirat Camp

Deconfliction Mechanism Proposed After Israeli Strike on Syrian Airbase

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