ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan declared Imran Khan’s counsel Salman Safdar a “friend of the court” on Tuesday and allowed him to meet the former prime minister in prison today to assess his living conditions, the lawyer confirmed. 

The development takes place a day after the Supreme Court rejected a request by Latif Khosa, a lawyer affiliated with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, who appealed to the court to allow him to meet Khan immediately.  As per local media reports, the top court rejected Khosa’s request as it heard 13 petitions related to Khan and his spouse on Monday. The court said it could not allow such a meeting without issuing a prior notice to the government. It later issued a notice to the government for Tuesday on Khosa’s request for a meeting with the PTI founder.

Khan, who was ousted as Pakistan’s prime minister in a parliamentary vote in April 2022, has been in jail since August 2023 on charges he rejects as politically motivated. The meeting between Safdar and Khan is scheduled to take place today amid concerns over the PTI founder’s health raised by his family and the party last month after the government confirmed he was taken from prison to an Islamabad hospital for a brief eye procedure. Authorities have said Khan’s condition is stable while PTI leaders claimed they were not informed in advance about the visit and have raised questions about it. 

“The court has assigned me a duty as a friend of the court, which we refer to as amicus, in which the court places its trust and confidence in you,” Safdar told reporters outside the top court. 

“So god willing, I will visit Mr. Khan today and [speak to him] over his living conditions.”

In response to a question, Safdar said he would go to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Prison, where Khan is incarcerated, at 2:00 p.m. to meet him. 

Concerns over Khan’s health and living conditions in prison have been frequently raised by his family and party supporters. In November 2025, his sisters publicly raised alarm over rumors that he had died in custody, claims the government dismissed at the time. Khan’s sisters later met him in December and said he was in good health.

In January 2025, an accountability court convicted Khan and his wife in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust land corruption case, sentencing him to 14 years and her to seven years after finding that the trust was used to acquire land and funds in exchange for alleged favors

Later in December 2025, a special court in Rawalpindi sentenced Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 17 years’ imprisonment each in the Toshakhana-2 corruption case, involving alleged fraud over state gifts received from foreign dignitaries, with fines also imposed on both. 

Khan insists all charges against him are politically motivated to keep him and his party away from power. The government denies this.