Pakistan's Top Court Steps In: Imran Khan Ordered to Hospital

Pakistan's Supreme Court on August 18, 2026, ordered that former prime minister Imran Khan be moved from prison to a hospital within two days. The court said his heart condition was getting worse and that the prison's medical reports had serious gaps (Al Jazeera).

The Supreme Court is Pakistan's highest court. A panel of three justices directed that a team of doctors oversee Khan's treatment at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad. That team must include his sister, Dr Uzma Khan, and his personal doctor, Dr Faisal Sultan. The court also ruled that Khan's family can visit him and that he can talk to his sons, who live in other countries. Khan was ordered to stay in the hospital at least until the next court hearing, set for September 16, 2026.

The decision came after a report from the prison where Khan is held. The report described a medical check on August 10 that found his blood pressure going up and down and noted that he was anxious because of limited contact with his family. The day before the Supreme Court acted, Khan's political party, PTI, had publicly demanded he be moved to a hospital right away after the prison report's findings became known (Tribune.com.pk).

During the August 18 hearing, the Supreme Court questioned Pakistan's advocate general, the government's top lawyer, about the gaps in the prison report. The justices said Khan's pulse and heart condition were not normal and that his vital organs had started to be affected. The court's wording made clear it found the prison's medical care insufficient.

Lower courts in Pakistan had twice turned down similar requests to move Khan since February 2026. In one case, the Islamabad High Court said no to a transfer and instead ordered a medical assessment. In another, a court ordered a medical team to examine Khan before February 16 after he reported vision problems, according to his PTI party (AP News). The Supreme Court's August 18 order breaks this pattern of courts relying on prison-based medical checks.

Khan, who is 73, has been in prison since August 2023 after being convicted in several corruption cases. He and his party say the charges are politically motivated, meaning they believe the cases were brought to keep him out of politics rather than because of genuine wrongdoing. The hospital-transfer order is part of a larger struggle between PTI and the government over access to Khan, a dispute that has now reached the highest level of the courts.

PTI leaders have announced a nationwide protest for September 27, 2026, focused on the question of access to Khan. That date is eleven days after the Supreme Court's next hearing on his case. The gap creates a window in which the court's orders on hospitalization, family visits, and medical oversight will either be followed or become the subject of further conflict.

Including Khan's sister and personal doctor on the medical team is unusual. Normally, only government-appointed doctors handle such assessments. This change addresses a key complaint from PTI: that government-controlled medical evaluations of Khan have not been transparent. The court also went beyond physical health by requiring family visits and contact with his sons abroad, linking his reported anxiety to the restrictions on seeing his family.

The broader context here is a judiciary that has sometimes ruled against Khan and sometimes in his favor over the past three years. The Supreme Court's decision to step in directly, rather than letting lower courts handle it, suggests the justices felt the situation had become serious enough that the usual approach was not enough. Whether this helps Khan's broader legal position or stays limited to his health care will depend heavily on the September 16 hearing. Two things to watch right away: how the government's lawyer responds to the court's questions, and whether the government meets the two-day deadline to move Khan.

For now, the order is narrow: treatment at a specific hospital, a specific medical team, family access, and a set date for the next hearing. PTI's planned protest on September 27 shows the party does not see the order as settling the deeper dispute and plans to keep pressing the government no matter what the court does next.