Ex-PM Imran Khan to be moved to hospital from prison, rules Pak Supreme Court
PAKISTAN'S Supreme Court has ordered authorities to move jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to a hospital in Islamabad for medical treatment.
Tuesday’s ruling came a day after the authorities at Adiala Jail, where Khan is imprisoned, told the Supreme Court that the 73-year-old’s eyesight had improved significantly and was now “almost normal” following treatment at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.
However, medical records submitted to the court showed that Khan had complained of palpitations, headaches, restlessness and severe anxiety, with doctors recommending more frequent contact with his wife and family to help manage his anxiety and blood pressure.
The court has ordered Khan to be transferred to Shifa International, a leading private hospital in Islamabad, within 48 hours, where he is to remain until 16 September, his spokesperson Naeem Haider Panjutha said on X.
Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari, a close aide and adviser to Khan, said in a statement: “The Supreme Court has rightly ordered for Imran Khan to be moved to Shifa International. It’s a very welcome order, and we wish it had happened sooner so his eye and general health would not have deteriorated this much.”
He added: “He should remain in hospital until all doctors are satisfied.”
Uzair Bhandari, one of Khan’s lawyers, said the court ordered the formation of a medical board to oversee his treatment. The board will include Khan’s sister, Uzma Khan, and his personal physician, Dr Faisal Sultan – meeting longstanding demands from Khan’s party.
“The court also directed that Khan’s family be allowed to meet him at the hospital and that he be permitted to speak with his sons, who live abroad,” Mr Bhandari said. Khan’s sons Kasim and Sulaiman live in the UK.
Khan has been in custody since 5 August 2023 after previously being arrested during nationwide unrest in May that year.
The former cricket star was removed as prime minister in April 2022 following a parliamentary vote of no-confidence.
Although he has been acquitted in several cases, including those relating to official secrets and his marriage to Bushra Bibi, Khan is serving a 14-year prison sentence in a corruption case, while he and his wife were also sentenced in December 2025 in a separate case involving state gifts.
Both convictions are under appeal, and Khan has denied wrongdoing. His party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), insists the cases are politically motivated.
On Monday, Mr Bukhari criticised the restrictions placed by jail authorities on Khan. He wrote on X about what he labelled the “cruelty of Imran Khan’s continued isolation”.
PTI has previously claimed that Khan has been in “complete isolation with no meetings whatsoever for over eight months now”.
He said: “The Medical Board records ‘Anxiety +++’, palpitations and head heaviness, and explicitly recommends more frequent interaction with his immediate family/spouse, stating this will help control his anxiety and blood pressure. It also prescribes medication and a daily one-hour walk.
“When even a Medical Board says family access is medically necessary, continuing to deny it is no longer just cruel; it is a deliberate assault on his physical and mental wellbeing.
“Let Imran Khan’s family meet him. Let his doctors see him, let his lawyers see him, let ANYONE see him. Hurting him isn’t going to give you political legitimacy.”
Rana Sanaullah, the current prime minister’s adviser, said before Tuesday’s ruling that Khan was receiving “the best available medical treatment” and that his condition did not warrant the concerns raised by PTI.
Earlier this month, human rights activists renewed calls to Pakistan’s authorities to restore Khan’s access to family, lawyers and medical care as the former prime minister marked three years in prison on 5 August.
Amnesty International urged authorities to end what it described as “unlawful” restrictions on his detention and demanded that Pakistani authorities “unconditionally restore Imran Khan and (his wife) Bushra Bibi Khan’s right to see their family and lawyers”.
On Monday, former president of Pakistan Arif Alvi said that Khan’s medical reports were “alarming”.
Commuters ride past the Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad on 18 August 2026, after Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's transfer from prison for medical treatment
He wrote on X: “This is what worries me most: his anxiety and stress levels, his palpitations, and his high blood pressure. Sleeplessness is not mentioned in the report, but looking at the medications, it is almost certainly there too. I have known Imran Khan for more than 35 years. Stress was never his weakness. That it is now at peak levels tells you everything about what three years of imprisonment and total isolation have done to him.”
Mr Alvi said that Khan’s reported heart rate of 54 bpm (beats per minute) represented a “real shift” from his usual resting rate in the low 40s. He wrote: “His heart rate is 54 bpm. Doctors will call that ‘normal’. It is not normal for him. His resting heart rate has been in the low 40s his whole adult life, the mark of a lifelong elite athlete. A jump to 54 is a real shift.”
He wrote: “Isolation is taking a physical toll on his body. If this is not addressed immediately, the damage may become irreversible with more complications to follow.
“The next three months will decide whether his condition is reversed or becomes permanent.”
