ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government will challenge a Supreme Court order directing jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s transfer from Adiala Jail to a private hospital for medical treatment, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said on Tuesday, setting the stage for a legal battle with Khan’s party.
Khan, 73, has been in prison since August 2023 and was diagnosed earlier this year with a retinal condition in his right eye that his lawyers warned could cause permanent vision loss. His party has repeatedly demanded that he be treated at Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital by doctors of his choosing.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered jailed the former prime minister to be moved to the private hospital for treatment, granting a longstanding demand by his family and supporters after months of alarm over his eyesight and broader health conditions.
The court ordered concerned officials, in consultation and coordination with the management of Shifa International Hospital, to constitute a medical board comprising a physician, a general surgeon, an internal medicine specialist, an eye specialist and a cardiologist to examine and treat Khan.
“The Supreme Court of Pakistan has issued an order regarding Imran Khan sahib and his health. Some of the points in the order concern the prison authorities and the Islamabad administration, including that he should undergo a medical check-up at Shifa International Hospital within two days,” Law Minister Tarar said in a video message on Tuesday.
“The matter has been discussed, and after reviewing the law, the authorities are of the view that this order does not fall within the parameters of the law governing the facilities that can be provided to a convicted person under the applicable prison laws.”
Khan’s party welcomed Tuesday’s court order as a “major development.”
“This is a major step, a major decision, and a major progress. No matter how much grateful we are to god for this, it will not be enough,” Salman Akram Raja, a senior member of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, said at a presser after the issuance of court verdict.
Concern over Khan’s health emerged in January when he was diagnosed with central retinal vein occlusion in his right eye, a blockage of the main vein carrying blood away from the retina that can cause serious or permanent vision loss.
He was taken from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad on Jan. 24, where the government said he underwent a 20-minute procedure with his consent. PTI and Khan’s family said they were not informed beforehand about the transfer or procedure and accused authorities of excluding his relatives, lawyers and personal physicians from decisions about his treatment.
Khan was taken to PIMS again in February for a second injection to treat the eye condition, prompting fresh objections from his party over what it described as secrecy surrounding his medical care.
Prison authorities told the Supreme Court this week that Khan’s vision had since returned to “almost normal” following treatment and said he had been regularly examined by government doctors.
But a medical-board report submitted ahead of Tuesday’s hearing recorded fluctuations in Khan’s blood pressure and anxiety, recommending more interaction with his immediate family and spouse, as well as exercise and access to reading material and television to help manage his condition.
“Supreme Court has rightly ordered for Imran Khan to be moved to Shifa International,” Khan’s spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari told Arab News on Tuesday.
“It’s a very welcomed order and we wish it had happened sooner so his eye and general health would not have deteriorated this much. He should remain in hospital until all doctors are satisfied.”
But Tarar said the government would request “appropriate modification” of the order, so that Khan’s examination can be conducted at a government tertiary-care hospital.
“In accordance with the court’s directions, and as the court deems appropriate, medical experts can be designated or called in as specialists, whether they are from Shifa International or another major institution,” the minister said.
The law provides that there should first be a medical board, and that board will determine whether the treatment needs to be provided inside the prison or outside the prison, according to the law minister.
“The basic point is that if prisoners are to be taken to private hospitals for such medical check-ups, there is a prison population across Pakistan consisting of thousands of inmates, many of whom also have medical complications and illnesses,” he said.
“The question then arises whether this order would apply to the entire prison population of Pakistan, or whether this precedent would be used further. There are also some other legal points on which the legal team has held detailed consultations.”
