Why Pakistan's Top Court Is Moving Imran Khan from Prison to a Hospital
Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered on August 18, 2026, that jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan be moved from prison to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad within 48 hours for a medical checkup by doctors, including an eye specialist. The decision came after complaints about his worsening health.
A panel of three judges issued the order. They also said a team of doctors should be formed to oversee Khan's treatment. The court ruled that Khan, who is 73, would be allowed weekly visits with family members and phone calls with his sons. Both the judges and members of Khan's political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), warned supporters not to gather outside the hospital during the transfer, saying that doing so would break the court order. PTI welcomed the ruling. (Reuters)
Khan's lawyers have argued that the former prime minister is suffering from several health problems, most seriously vision loss. In February, one of Khan's lawyers said his client had only 15% of his vision left in his right eye because prison authorities did not act in time. The government disputed that claim. Khan's lawyers say he has been unable to see a specialist doctor during his time in prison. (BBC News)
Khan has been in prison since August 2023 on corruption charges, which he says were brought for political reasons rather than genuine wrongdoing. Since being jailed, he has faced charges in more than 100 cases, ranging from leaking state secrets to selling state gifts. Late last year, Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were both sentenced to 17 years in prison. Khan served as prime minister from 2018 until 2022, when he was removed from office. (BBC News)
The court's ruling steps into a long-running dispute between Khan's lawyers and the Pakistani government over the kind of medical care a former leader should receive in detention. The two sides tell very different stories. Khan's lawyers say his eyesight was allowed to worsen to near-blindness in one eye because of official negligence. The government says those claims are not true. The Supreme Court's decision to order a hospital transfer, form a medical team, and specifically include an eye specialist suggests the judges found enough truth in the health complaints to override the prison's normal arrangements.
The warning against public gatherings outside the hospital reflects concern from both the court and PTI that even moving Khan for medical reasons could trigger political tension. Khan is a deeply divisive figure in Pakistani politics, and his party can still rally large numbers of supporters. The joint instruction to supporters shows an effort to keep the hospital visit from turning into a confrontation with security forces.
The broader context here is how the judiciary is positioning itself against the government's handling of Khan's imprisonment. Pakistan's Supreme Court has, at different times in the country's history, acted as a check on the power of military and civilian leaders, and at other times has been seen as doing their bidding. This order does not change the legal cases against Khan or shorten his sentence. What it does is set up a court-approved plan for his medical care, overseen by an independent panel of doctors, that takes control away from prison authorities. For a government that has repeatedly denied Khan's health claims, the ruling is a formal rejection of its position on whether he is getting adequate medical care.
Whether the medical panel's findings will affect the larger direction of Khan's legal situation is an open question. The court order is narrow: it deals with Khan's health and prison conditions, not the charges themselves. But in a political environment where even the physical condition of a jailed former prime minister is a subject of disagreement, a court order this specific carries weight beyond its immediate details.
