Imran Khan Shifted to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad Under Tight Security

Ali Imran Chattha | Nazrana Times
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former prime minister Imran Khan was shifted from Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad on Thursday night, in compliance with a Supreme Court order directing his transfer for medical examination and treatment.

Background: The Supreme Court Order

The transfer follows an interim order issued on Tuesday, August 18, by a three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed, comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim. The bench was hearing petitions filed by Khan's sister Dr Uzma Khan, his lawyer Uzair Bhandari and PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, seeking better medical treatment for the 73-year-old former premier and access to his family.
"The prisoner shall, within the next two days, be shifted to Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad," the written order stated. The court directed that Khan remain hospitalised until the next hearing, scheduled for September 16, and ordered the constitution of a dedicated medical board comprising a physician, a general surgeon, an internal medicine specialist, an eye specialist and a cardiologist to examine and treat him.

Justice Waheed had expressed serious concern over Khan's medical reports, noting signs of stress on his vital organs, including irregular pulse and cardiac readings, and ruled that a routine medical summary was insufficient. The court also directed that Khan's personal physician, Dr Faisal Sultan, and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan, be permitted to remain associated with his examination and treatment, and that he be allowed to meet his family once a week, besides phone calls twice weekly with his two sons, who live in London. The court further directed that his medical reports not be used for political purposes and warned that any violation of its directions could result in withdrawal of the facilities extended to him.

Government's Challenge

The federal government initially resisted the order. The Islamabad chief commissioner's office filed a review petition against the transfer directive, which was subsequently returned by the Supreme Court's registrar office on the grounds of incomplete paper books, with sources indicating it may be refiled after amendments. A senior federal minister separately signalled that the government could consider treatment at a private hospital, or even abroad, should adequate care not be available at a state facility.

Security Arrangements

In the hours preceding the transfer, Islamabad's Inspector General of Police, Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, personally visited Shifa International Hospital along with senior police officers to review security arrangements. A security audit of the facility was conducted, and pickets were established on all roads leading to the hospital. Departments including the capital administration, police, jail authorities and Rangers were reported present at the site to finalise the security plan.

According to sources close to the ground situation, police shut down markets, shops and street lighting in the area surrounding Adiala Jail ahead of the move, and a large security convoy reported by local sources to include 18 vehicles and four ambulances accompanied the former prime minister's transfer to hospital. PTI workers in Rawalpindi were reported to have celebrated with fireworks following news of the shift. (These operational specifics are drawn from field/source accounts and had not yet been independently confirmed by wire agencies at the time of filing; they should be corroborated before use in print without attribution.)

Context

Imran Khan has been in custody since August 2023, serving a 14-year sentence in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case a conviction he maintains is politically motivated. He was ousted as prime minister through a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022. His transfer to Shifa Hospital marks a significant, though limited, shift in his custodial conditions: it does not suspend his conviction, grant bail, or order his release, but places his treatment under closer judicial oversight and restores a degree of family access that had been curtailed during his imprisonment.

The Supreme Court has directed that Khan's complete medical record, along with details of his treatment at Shifa, be placed before it at the next hearing on September 16.