Imran Khan's family accuses Pakistan government of defying court order for hospital transfer

Islamabad, Pakistan – Uzma Khanum had not seen her brother in nearly a year. When she finally did, in a borrowed office at the government-run PIMS hospital in the Pakistani capital in the early hours of Friday, Imran Khan stood up in astonishment and told the doctors around him: “This is my sister, I am meeting her after 10 months.”

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered authorities to move former Prime Minister Imran Khan from Adiala prison to the privately run Shifa International Hospital before midnight Thursday, three years after he was imprisoned on a raft of charges. However, according to accounts by Khanum and Khan's personal physician, Faisal Sultan, at a press conference Friday afternoon, the night unfolded in chaos, marked by what they called a government “failure” to comply with the court's directive.

Khan's lawyer told Al Jazeera that under the order, Khan was to remain in the hospital for treatment until the next hearing on September 16. Instead, he stayed at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for only a few hours before being returned to his cell at 5 a.m. Friday, never having set foot in Shifa Hospital.

Khan, 73, has been detained since August 2023 over a series of convictions that his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), says were politically motivated. All but one of those convictions have been suspended or overturned on appeal. Concerns about his right eye, which requires specialist treatment over several months, have fueled PTI's campaign for his release and were central to the medical board report that led to the court's transfer order.

A night of chaos

A journalist who waited outside Shifa Hospital's gates all night, speaking anonymously, told Al Jazeera that the scene seemed staged to persuade the media that Khan would arrive there. At the first checkpoint on the access road, only those with patient cards for treatment inside were allowed through. An estimated 400 to 500 Khan supporters had gathered in the area, some traveling from remote Punjab towns with their families, believing the former prime minister would arrive that night. Police cars and armored vehicles passed continuously, while barriers were erected beside the hospital – all creating a “drama” that led the media to believe this was definitely the destination.

After hours of waiting, an official whispered to the journalist: “Not here, look to PIMS.” “Looking back, it is clear we were tricked,” the journalist said. Dr. Sultan, who was ordered by the court to be present, recounted being taken to Shifa at 12:30 a.m. and waiting nearly three hours, repeatedly told that Khan was “on his way,” but at 4:30 a.m. was informed “he is not coming anymore” and was sent back to Adiala without seeing the patient. Khanum, who was taken to PIMS, said the examination was not as thorough as the court required: no blood tests were conducted, and the doctors did not know which eye drops Khan was prescribed and had to search his records. Khan repeatedly complained that he had been in solitary confinement for 10 months without books or television, and that his blood pressure readings had been ignored by prison doctors for months.

Government and PTI reactions

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Khan had been examined by “a team of expert doctors, including ophthalmologists, cardiologists, and internists” and was declared “medically fit,” in the presence of Khanum. Tarar explained the move to PIMS as due to “the security situation created by PTI workers” on the roads to Shifa. PTI rejected this, saying it had asked supporters to stay away from the hospital and that there were no independent reports of security disturbances that night.

Senior PTI leader Zulfikar Bukhari called it a “complete violation of the Supreme Court order,” with no thorough examination and a medical board that was “a farce.” Lawyer Faisal Fareed argued that the transfer to PIMS was an “absolute violation” and that Khan's 10 months of solitary confinement represented treatment of a political opponent unseen “since the British colonial era.” PTI information secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said the party would file contempt of court proceedings and raise the matter in the national parliament and the Punjab provincial assembly, where Adiala prison is located.

PTI also alleged that taking Dr. Sultan to Shifa was a deliberate “decoy” to create the appearance of compliance while Khan was taken to PIMS in a separate convoy. The party's statement read: “The claim that the PTI founder was declared medically fit after a few hours of examination appears to be merely symbolic before returning him to prison before dawn raises serious questions.”

PTI's shifting message

The incident comes during a tense week for PTI's messaging. On Wednesday, senior leader Bukhari told Reuters that Khan would not confront army chief General Asim Munir if released, but faced pushback from another senior PTI leader, speaking anonymously, who said any compromise with the military establishment was “personal opinion” and “not accepted by the party.” That figure cited a message from Khan in prison that PTI “will not compromise with the establishment” – a euphemism for Pakistan's military – and that only Khan had the authority to change that stance.

The case is due back in court on September 16, but PTI lawyers say they will bring Thursday night's events before the court before then.