ISLAMABAD: The PTI on Wednesday approached the Supreme Court seeking the medical treatment of jailed party founder Imran Khan at a hospital of his choice, along with access to his personal physicians.
The application, filed by PTI lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa under Order XXXV Rule 6 of the Supreme Court Rules 2025, comes after Imran underwent a government-facilitated follow-up treatment for his eye ailment.
The application, available with media, was filed on behalf of Imran and named the Islamabad district election commissioner as the respondent, as it invoked the Toshakhana case in which the PTI founder was first arrested on Aug 5, 2023.
The plea requested the SC that Imran be “immediately shifted to Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad for proper treatment of his eyes from [a] retina specialist”.
It may be mentioned that Shifa International Hospital — where Imran’s family and personal doctors want him to be taken — is in Islamabad, whereas Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, a doctor of which was involved in Tuesday’s treatment, is located in Rawalpindi.
The plea also sought Imran’s access to his personal physicians Dr Faisal Sultan and Dr Aasim Yusuf, “who may be associated with all the procedures of examination and treatment”.
“It is also prayed that the petitioner’s family members be duly informed and grant reasonable access to them during his medical check-up and treatment,” the application added.
The petition requested that Imran’s lawyer be provided with attested copies of medical reports and checkups carried out regarding the ex-premier.
The lawyer may also be “granted reasonable access to his client for updated instruction for his effective representation before this Honourable court and so as to enable complete justice to the petitioner,” the plea added.
In his application, Khosa highlighted that Imran was 73 years old, adding that “his advancing age and declining health are matters of grave concern not only for his family but for the people of Pakistan at large”.
“The conduct of a medical examination in secrecy, without notice to the family or independent doctors, has given rise to serious apprehensions,” he contended.
Referring to Imran’s Tuesday hospital visit, Khosa pointed out that the procedure was conducted in the absence of the former premier’s personal physicians, family members, and lawyers.
“Nothing is known regarding the outcome of the petitioner’s medical examination and or procedures conducted in Pims hospital. Such secrecy is mindboggling and not acceptable on any hypothesis,” he added.
Following Imran’s follow-up treatment, a hospital doctor stated that the former was “clinically stable”, with Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar also providing details about it to the Senate.
Khosa pointed out that the February 15 examination at Adiala jail, where Imran is imprisoned, was also conducted in the absence of his family members, personal doctors or legal representatives.
He rejected the government’s claims of certain family and party members voluntarily choosing not to come despite being informed as “wholly incorrect and unrealistic”.
“At no stage were the petitioner’s family members, personal physicians, or counsel informed. In fact, when the petitioner’s sisters approached the authorities, they were denied access. Instead, a panel of handpicked doctors was formed to conduct the examination,” the plea asserted.
Khosa recalled that in a February 16 communication through him, Imran requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan, “seeking appropriate orders for compliance of his medical examination and shifting to the Shifa International Hospital for treatment of his ailment as no retina specialist is available in Pims”.
The counsel argued: “The insistence of the petitioner’s treatment from Pims where no retina specialist exists, continued exclusion of the petitioner’s family and personal medical practitioners from information concerning his health has created unavoidable doubts.
“Such secrecy not only undermines confidence in the medical process but is also causing unrest and distress among his family members, friends and supporters,” he argued.
Later, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said during Geo News programme ‘Capital Talk’ that if the court ordered or doctors would recommend, the government would get Imran admitted to a hospital.
Gohar laments pending cases before IHC
Separately, speaking outside the SC, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan said his party’s parliamentarians will go to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday at noon to seek the fixation of Imran’s pending cases.
He highlighted that the PTI has approached the IHC 17 times and the SC 14 times in the past year.
“We have only one demand: fix Khan sahib’s cases, hear them and make decisions based on justice,” Gohar told reporters.
The PTI leader recalled that the party has already moved the SC for Imran’s access to his lawyers in multiple ongoing cases, noting that an application related to his health has now been filed too.
Referring to his meeting with the SC registrar on Tuesday, Gohar said the registrar had told them to file an application for the “next hearing” via the advocate-on-record (AOR).
Subsequently, Gohar added, they submitted an application today via the AOR for fixing the plea regarding Imran’s health and doctors “as soon as possible”.
“I hope that the way the Supreme Court has made a commitment, this plea will be fixed for hearing,” the PTI chairman said.
Barrister Gohar lamented that the pleas regarding the suspension of sentence in the £190m Al-Qadir Trust case and the second Toshakhana case had not been fixed for hearing yet.
He highlighted that the Al Qadir case plea had been pending for over a year, even though such cases “should be decided within 35 and 60 days as per the Judicial Policy”.
Gohar noted that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi paid a visit to the IHC today.
However, Gohar said he was “saddened” upon IHC Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar not giving the KP CM a “positive response”.
“We have been told on behalf of the chief justice and the registrar that both the Toshakhana and Al Qadir cases will be fixed for hearing at the IHC tomorrow,” Gohar said.
Imran’s ailment and treatment
Imran’s eye ailment — right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) — came to light in late January, with concerns mounting after partial vision loss in one eye was reported via a lawyer who met the incarcerated former premier upon the SC’s intervention.
A report prepared by a team of doctors who visited Imran on February 15 stated that, unaided, Imran’s right eye had 6/24 partial vision and 6/9 in the left. It said that with glasses, the ex-premier’s vision was 6/9 partial in the right and 6/6 in the left.
Since then, the government and the opposition have been engaged in a blame game, with the latter accusing the former of a lack of transparency on the matter, of not ensuring appropriate treatment for Imran, and of not allowing his personal physicians access to him.
The government denies these allegations.
Imran’s first medical procedure, which was carried out on January 24, was confirmed by the government five days later. A follow-up visit to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) was made in the early hours of February 24.
The PTI founder’s family, party, and the opposition strongly objected to the manner in which it was carried out, lamenting that they had not been informed in advance.
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