ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government has withdrawn its petition seeking review of a court order to move jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to a private hospital, an official of Khan’s party said on Thursday.
The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ordered Khan, 73, be transferred from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail to Shifa International Hospital for specialist examination and treatment, and directed that his personal physicians be involved in the medical process.
The Islamabad administration subsequently sought a review of the order, arguing that the court had bypassed prison rules governing the transfer of inmates for treatment and warning that allowing a convict access to a private hospital could prompt similarly placed prisoners to seek the same relief.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told a news conference on Wednesday that the government did not dispute Khan’s right to medical treatment but questioned whether a prisoner could demand treatment at a specified private hospital.
“The state has withdrawn its review petition from the SC after objections were placed on it by the SC filing branch,” Salman Akram Raja, secretary-general of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, said on X.
“There is no excuse whatsoever for not complying with the SC order of 18 August. Imran Khan Sb must be transferred to Shifa International Hospital forthwith. Today is the day.”
There was no immediate comment from the government on the withdrawal of the petition.
“Every prisoner has the right to be provided medical facilities according to the law. And they have been provided and will continue to be provided,” Tarar said on Wednesday, before questioning. “But, can a private hospital be specified?”
In an interview with Arab News on Wednesday, Raja was confident that the government will comply with the court order.
“You see the filing of the review petition [by the government] means nothing. Anybody can file anything. The order of the Supreme Court (to move Khan to hospital) stands,” he said after the government filed the review petition Wednesday.
“It has to be complied with. If they don’t comply with it by tomorrow afternoon, they would be in contempt of court.”
Khan, who served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has been imprisoned since August 2023 and faces a series of convictions and other legal cases that he and his party say are politically motivated. The government denies persecuting him.
Concern over Khan’s health intensified in January after he was diagnosed with central retinal vein occlusion in his right eye, a blockage that can cause serious or permanent vision loss. He was subsequently taken twice to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences for treatment.
PTI, which retains a large support base despite Khan’s imprisonment, has announced a long march toward Islamabad on Sept. 27 to secure his release.
