ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s opposition party led by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday raised fresh concerns over his health and jail access, saying his family had been kept uninformed about a reported medical condition, while the government rejected the allegations and accused the party of politicizing a routine prison matter.

The dispute comes amid heightened scrutiny of Khan’s incarceration, which has become a central fault line in Pakistan’s polarized politics. Khan, a popular leader who was prime minister from 2018-22, has been in prison since August 2023 following a series of convictions he and his party say are politically motivated. His detention has repeatedly triggered legal challenges, protests and claims of mistreatment, all of which the government denies.

On Tuesday, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said on social media platform X it had "credible" reports that he had been diagnosed with central retinal vein occlusion in his right eye, which it described as “a dangerous blockage in the retinal vein.” Quoting medical experts who had examined him in prison, the party warned the condition could lead to permanent damage to his eyesight if not treated properly.

Pakistan’s leading English-language daily Dawn reported on Wednesday that Khan had been taken from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), a major public hospital in Islamabad, late Saturday night and returned to prison on Sunday.PTI leaders said neither Khan’s family nor the party had been informed of the alleged hospital visit or his medical condition.

“We were not even informed whether he was taken outside the jail or not, what was his illness and what was done and who examined him,” PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan told Arab News after a press conference in Islamabad.

“That is really a serious matter for all of us.”

He demanded that authorities immediately facilitate a family meeting with Khan and provide full details of his treatment.

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said Khan’s family had been denied access to him for nearly two months.

“So Mr. Imran Khan is being kept in isolation for long periods of time,” he alleged.

Concerns over Khan’s health are not new. In November last year, his sisters publicly raised alarm over rumors that he had died in custody, claims the government dismissed at the time. Khan’s sisters last met him in December.

Responding to the latest claims, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Law and Justice Aqeel Malik neither confirmed nor denied that Khan had been taken to PIMS, but said the health of all prisoners was a government priority.

“The majority of health facilities are available at the jail hospital while some others may not be available,” Malik told Arab News.

“In such cases, prisoners can be treated outside the jail and this is a routine matter.”

He said Khan was entitled to all facilities under prison rules and, as a “superior-class” inmate, was examined daily by medical staff.

Addressing PTI’s demand that Khan’s family should have been informed of any hospital visit, Malik said prison authorities were responsible for medical decisions.

“The family does not need to be informed unless it is a life-threatening situation,” he said, adding that Khan was “generally in good health for his age.”

Malik accused PTI of using Khan’s health as a political tool, alleging the party routinely violated Islamabad High Court orders by speaking to the media after jail meetings and creating security concerns outside prison premises.

“Why do they not comply with court orders? Why do they always speak to the media outside the jail and create law and order situations?” he asked.

Khan, who was ousted from the PM's office through a parliamentary vote in April 2022, has since accused Pakistan’s powerful military of colluding with his political rivals to remove him from power and keep him imprisoned. The military denies the allegations and says it does not interfere in politics.

Khan’s health and access dispute comes against a backdrop of multiple high-profile convictions. 

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.  

Earlier in January 2025, an accountability court convicted Khan and Bibi 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.  

Khan and his allies deny wrongdoing in all cases, saying they are politically motivated, and legal appeals are ongoing.