The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday issued an order on a petition seeking the transfer of incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital for medical treatment, ordering the reconstitution of a medical board to take a final decision on the matter.
In a short order, a division bench of the IHC ordered the reconstitution of a medical board comprising Dr. Arif and Dr. Nadeem Qureshi, who had previously examined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder. The board, it said, would re-examine Khan and submit its recommendations to Islamabad Chief Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa. Based on the report, it said, a decision would be taken on whether Khan requires transfer to a hospital or can continue receiving treatment at Adiala Jail.
The medical board, said the ruling, would inform Khan’s family of its findings.
The division bench, comprising Justices Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Khadim Hussain Soomro, earlier presided over a hearing that saw several heated arguments between Khan’s lawyers, the state’s legal team, and the incarcerated former prime minister’s family members.
During proceedings, Khan’s senior counsel Sardar Latif Khosa maintained his client had started complaining of vision problems in October 2025. “The Adiala Jail doctors treated the matter as routine, while the government kept his deteriorating condition a secret for five days before the information minister finally admitted he was moved to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS),” he said.
He further claimed Khan’s right eye only had 15% vision remaining and compared the situation to that of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose are allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment on court orders.
By contrast, Islamabad Advocate General Ayaz Shokat and Additional Attorney General Rashid Hafeez argued that a medical board that include a top retina specialist had examined Khan and noted significant improvement in his vision.
At one point, Justice Tahir asked if the government was willing to take responsibility if something were to happen to Khan during his incarceration. “We will take responsibility,” responded the advocate general. The AG further argued that Jail Rules only required the satisfaction of the medical officer and not the prisoner for determining the venue of treatment.
Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, also took the rostrum, maintaining the family did not trust Adiala Jail’s medical facilities. She also questioned why the family was not informed of the treatment to which the state’s legal team said Khan’s wife, Bushra, was informed.
“We have doctors in our family; why are his personal physicians being denied access to his medical reports?” Aleema questioned, maintaining that while the doctors were provided a briefing on the ongoing treatment, they could not verify it without personal examination.
The court then observed that the right to life remains supreme even if the prevailing Jail Rules are somewhat outdated. Justice Tahir remarked that the court has been hearing the case daily due to the sensitivity of the matter and deemed the health of any prisoner a top priority.
To this, the defense team demanded that Khan’s personal physicians be permitted to examine him at Shifa Hospital in Islamabad.
The court then reserved its judgment, announcing it subsequently.
The petition seeking Khan’s transfer to Shifa International Hospital for specialized eye treatment was filed earlier this month and cited a report submitted by another of Khan’s lawyers, Salman Safdar, who had met with the former prime minister at Adiala Jail as amicus curiae of the Supreme Court.
The report had said Khan had experienced vision loss in his right eye, adding he had started experiencing problems in October but did not receive specialized treatment until January. On March 3, PIMS issued a statement saying Khan’s vision had “improved remarkably” after treatment by a medical board.