Former Pakistan Prime Minister and World Cup-winning captain Imran Khan was ordered by the country’s Supreme Court to be transferred to a private hospital amid health concerns. Incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail since August 2023, Khan has had several health concerns during his time in custody.
PTI lodged a petition
His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, recently lodged a petition to seek hospitalisation and treatment by a multidisciplinary panel of doctors. The Supreme Court ordered the government to shift the former Prime Minister to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad.
The government had previously requested a review of the court’s order, arguing that treating Khan at a hospital of his choice would be discriminatory. However, the request was denied by the Supreme Court registrar’s office, citing incomplete paperwork.
In the late hours of Thursday night, he was shifted to PIMS instead of Shifa International Hospital, as ordered by the court. The country’s information minister claims that Imran Khan was declared medically fit at the hospital and hence was shifted back to his jail cell in the morning.
“In the light of the Supreme Court’s order, the prisoner was taken to the hospital under appropriate security arrangements during the night between August 20 and 21,” the government’s information minister Attaullah Tarar said in a post on ‘X’.
“A team of qualified doctors, including an ophthalmologist, a cardiologist, and a physician, conducted a detailed examination of him and declared him medically fit. After the completion of this entire process, he was shifted back to Adiala Jail on the morning of August 21 at approximately 5 a.m.”
Imran Khan’s health concerns in jail
The former all-rounder has previously had several short hospital visits after his legal team claimed an eye infection had left him with only 15 per cent vision amid reported medical neglect.
A group of former international captains has requested “adequate and ongoing medical attention” for incarcerated Imran Khan in an open letter addressed to Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif.
The letter, drafted by Greg Chappell, was signed by fourteen captains, including Ian Chappell, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Clive Lloyd, Allan Border, Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, Michael Brearley, David Gower, Steve Waugh, John Wright, Kim Hughes and Belinda Clark.
These fourteen captains join Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Ajay Jadeja and several other cricketers who appealed for the provision of immediate medical attention for the former PM.
Additionally, human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation of Human Rights, have also expressed concerns over Khan’s condition.
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